


Bird Box

by Serendipitous_VMin



Series: A BTS Bird Box Series [1]
Category: Bird Box (2018), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Blind Character, Drama & Romance, F/M, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Inspired by Bird Box (2018), M/M, Minor Character Death, Minor Violence, Sope, Suicide, namjin - Freeform, vmin - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-13
Updated: 2019-03-24
Packaged: 2019-10-27 13:28:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 31,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17767649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serendipitous_VMin/pseuds/Serendipitous_VMin
Summary: BTS Bird Box AUWhen a mysterious entity causes the population to decimate themselves through suicide, a group of strangers try to survive in a world no one could prepare for. The only thing they know for certain- when you see it, you die.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> ***Trigger warning. There will be mentions and descriptions of suicide, as well as minor violence and foul language throughout this work. Please do not continue reading if any of this will be triggering for you!
> 
> This is my first work so please be kind! I had been toying with the idea of writing BTS fics for a while now, but hadn't really been able to settle on what I wanted to write about. After I watched Bird Box, I immediately knew that I wanted to portray BTS in that universe. This fic will start fairly similarly to the movie, but will stray from the movie's story line the further it goes. I have many ideas about this story that I am very excited about, so please be patient with me while I work on this. I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Also. follow me on my new twitter to receive updates on this fic, along with ideas for other fics I might write!  
> https://twitter.com/SerendipitousVM

May 17th, 2014

 

_Gooooooooooood Morning Seoul! And what a beautiful morning it is! The sun is out and there’s not a cloud in the sky! Let me tell ya, I just love waking up to weather like this. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and-_

 

The T.V. playing the morning news abruptly turns off, as a girl no older than 17 sits down at the kitchen table, a grimace resting on her face. She has dark brown hair, that rests just above her shoulders, lips thin and eyes round, although they are barely open at the moment as she fights off sleep.

“Hey! I was watching that!” A young boy of 4 years shouts, standing on a chair and slamming his hands on the table.

“Yeah well you can’t always get what you want, kid. Be glad I’m teaching you this while you’re still young,” the girl says as she stuffs a spoonful of cereal into her mouth, milk dripping down her chin.

“Mom! Jae turned the T.V. off while I was watching!” the boy yells, turning to the older woman standing by the stove. Said woman turns around, sporting a spatula in her right hand and a smile on her lips.

“Park Jae-Hwa, how many times have I told you to not turn off the T.V. while your brother is watching? You know how much he loves these morning talk shows” She sighs, though the smile never leaves her face as she asks.

“The guy was way too cheery for 7 a.m., it was creeping me out. Plus, he talked about birds and it triggered me. Those stupid birds woke me up at four this morning! Four! That is not a time any sane person should be awake!” Jae exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air in frustration.

“Maybe you wouldn’t be so tired if you didn’t stay up all night,” her sister said while entering the kitchen, sitting down at the table and pouring herself a glass of orange juice.

“What, now that you’ve finally turned 21 you’ve decided to act like an adult and go to sleep at a normal time? I’m oh so disappointed in you Mai,” Jae responded, shaking her head.

Mai just rolls her eyes, turning the T.V. back on. The boy smiles a toothy grin, thanking his eldest sister before turning his attention back to the morning news.

“You’re welcome Sanha,” Mai says, shooting Jae a smug smile, who sticks her tongue out in return.

“Good morning everybody! Are you all ready to go?” An older man asks as he strides in the kitchen, stopping by the stove as he kisses his wife’s cheek.

“Remind me why we all have to go today?” Jae asks, her eyes barely open from exhaustion. 

“Because,” her mother says, turning around. “Today is the day we get to find out if you’re going to have another younger brother, or a younger sister,” she smiles while resting a hand on her slightly rounder stomach. Her husband bends down, giving her stomach a few rubs and kisses. His wife giggles, looking down fondly at him. “And before you say anything else, I can’t explain why, but I just really want you all to be there with us today. I want to share this moment with everyone, no matter how grumpy you may be,” her mother says, eyes directly on a certain daughter of hers.

Jae lets a small smile grace her lips before nodding, never wanting to give a reason for her mom to be sad.

“Mom, dad, what’s sewerside?” Sanha asks his parents, tilting his head in confusion while staring at the T.V. The rest of the family all look at each other quizzically before turning their attention to the T.V. as well, trying to understand what exactly the youngest was asking about.

 

_Breaking News! We are live in Russia where the country is experiencing mass suicides. Death toll is currently predicted be in the tens of thousands, with the count rising fast. No word yet on why there has been such a huge spike, but we are told that other countries in Eastern Europe are experiencing the same phenomenon. As of yet, the crisis has yet to cross over the border to Asia, so we are advising you to go about your day as normal. We will provide further instructions, if need be, when the time comes. For the people of Russia and anywhere else that is currently being affected by this curiously tragic event, we pray that-_

The T.V. gets turned off abruptly for the second time that morning, this time by the father, eyes wide and hands shaking. He gulps a little before turning to look at his kids sitting at the table. All three look up to him, the youngest with curious eyes while the daughters sport faces of concern.

“Well, you heard the man. We go about our day as normal. And if we don’t leave in the next few minutes, we’ll be late for your mothers’ appointment. So c’mon, go get dressed! Your mother and I will clean up the kitchen,” he says, smiling as he pushes his kids out of the kitchen. His smile fades once they leave to their bedrooms, turning to face his wife who looks just as concerned as her daughters did. Her husband just sighs, taking her in his arms and squeezing as gently as he can, willing whatever is happening to end as quickly as it began.

 

* * *

 

The Park family all walk together through the hospital’s hallways, smiling to whoever passes by them. The mother and father have their youngest in between them, each holding one of his hands as he skips, while their middle and oldest walk behind them. The oldest has her phone out, looking down and texting a friend. Jae lets her eyes wander as she walks, glancing at the people that she passes. She makes eye contact with a girl that looks about her age, leaning against the window. She gives Jae a good morning, a beaming smile on her face. Jae simply nods and smiles in return, still tired from her lack of sleep the night before.

“Well, here we are,” their mom states, stopping at a door on their right.

“Ok everyone, you all wait out here while your mother and I go talk to the doctor. Once they get everything ready, we will bring you in for the big news, ok?” their father asks, giving one of his sons’ hands each to Mai and Jae. They both nod in return, taking their little brother to the nearest bench to sit while they wait.

Twenty minutes later and the entire family is cramped in a small room, each person bouncing at their feet, looking at the doctor with anticipation.

“Well, I can tell you all are ready, so I won’t make you wait any longer. Mr. and Mrs. Park, congratulations, you are having a baby girl,” Doctor Moon states, a smile on her lips as she hands the sonogram to the mother.

“Yes!” Both Jae and Mai shout, high-fiving each other, while their parents embrace, tears streaming down both of their cheeks.

“Man…,” Sanha huffs, kicking the ground in frustration, “How am I gonna live with three sisters?”

His father laughs, ruffling his son’s hair before pulling in his family for a group hug.

“So, are you glad you came today Ms. Grumpy Pants?” Jae’s mother asks, the sonogram held tightly to her chest.

Jae nods, leaning forward to kiss her mother’s cheek, who smiles fondly in return.

They all walk down the hallway to leave, each of them sporting a bit more of a pep in their step after receiving the news.

Jae walks ahead this time, feeling more energized than when she came in this morning. She slows down however, when she sees a couple security guards talking to the girl who said good morning to her not an hour ago. _What kind of trouble could she be causing, she seemed perfectly normal,_ Jae thinks to herself, confusion clearly written on her face. The confusion heightens further when the girl starts slamming her hand into the window, leaving blood with every slam. Everyone around stops and stares at the girl, concern pouring from all of their eyes. The guards try to hold her back, but that doesn’t stop her. With power and strength no girl her age should possess, she pushes the guards off her, ramming her body in the window until it breaks, and she falls three stories. The confusion on Jae’s face briefly shifts to realization, before quickly turning to terror.

“It’s happening here,” she whispers, turning to look behind at her family. They all stand a few feet behind her, mother and daughter looking at the window with tears in their eyes as the father holds his son against his chest, covering his eyes. 

“The thing happening in Russia, it’s here. We have to go!” Jae yells, grabbing her mother’s hand before she turns to a sprint, bee-lining for the exit.

The rest of her family is not far behind, Mai running beside her father who carries his son. They make it to the exit and head straight for the car, the father getting in the drivers’ seat, while the mother sits in the passenger and the children slide into the back. 

He wastes no time in starting the car and pulling out into the road, trying his best to make his way home fast without endangering the lives of his family. Which proves not an easy task, as hysteria has overcome the streets. Cars are crashing left and right, as people run anywhere and everywhere. Some crashes are merely accidental, an expected outcome of people trying to rush to the safety of their home. But the rest, those are clearly purposeful. People are running through red lights, driving into buildings and over bridges at speeds well over the limit. 

“Shit…” their father whispers, driving a little bit faster while dodging the people running like mad through the streets, wanting to get his family home as fast as he can. 

“Mom, what’s going on? I’m scared…” Sanha whimpers, clutching Jae’s arm as tight as he can.

His mom turns around to face him, her face portraying a certain calmness that would almost convince anyone she was actually calm, if it wasn’t for the fear that shown from her eyes. 

“Don’t worry sweetie. Everything is fine. Just hold on to your sister no matter what, ok?” Sanha nods frantically in return, while Jae tucks his head into her chest, whispering comforting words in his ear. 

Their mother smiles in return, looking to her eldest child to make sure she was handling everything a little bit better than her youngest was.

“Oh god…what the fuck is that?” their dad says, eyes focused on something in the distance, growing wider and redder while he presses his foot harder on the gas.

“Honey, what are you doing?” his wife asks, turning away from her children to look at her husband.

“I’m coming, please wait for me. I’m almost there,” her husband calmly responds, though his eyes exude panic and fear. He speeds up even more, driving straight through a red light.

“Look out!” his wife screams, turning her head just in time to see them driving straight to a semi-truck stopped in the middle of the road. She reaches over to grab the steering wheel, trying to turn it to avoid crashing. Although the car veers to the left, the right side of the front hits the back of the truck, causing the car to turn over. Screams from the wife and children are heard as the cars flips multiple times before landing upside down on the opposite side of the road.

After blacking out for a few minutes, Jae groans, feeling something warm on her forehead. She breathes a couple of seconds before she opens her eyes. Her eyes take a moment to adjust, spots scattered throughout her vision. She can feel her brother holding on to her arm, although not as tightly as before. She looks to her left and sees her older sister awake, weakly trying to unbuckle her seat belt. 

“You ok?” Mai asks, briefly looking towards Jae before working on her seat belt again. Jae only hums in return, not having enough strength to really say any words. She turns her head to the front seat where her parents are, or at least, where they should be, but both seats are empty. Right as she realizes this, she hears a scream come from outside the car, a scream that is undoubtedly her mothers.

“Shit, we have to go! Take care of Sanha, I’ll get mom and dad,” Mai says, finally able to unbuckle her seat belt, she crawls out of the car, scratching herself on the broken window.

Jae unbuckles her seat belt as quickly as she can, turning to her brother to start working on his. “Sanha, wake up! We have to go.”

Sanha’s eyes blink open, he looks around before settling on his older sister. “What happened?” he asks weakly.

“I’m not sure, but we’ll worry about that later. We have to get out of the car and get to safety,” Jae responds, unbuckling her brother’s seatbelt. She starts crawling out of the same window her sister did, as the window next to her brother is blocked by another car that they must have crashed into. Once she is outside of the car, she immediately bends down, poking her head through the window and reaching for her brother.

“Remember what mom said? Hold on to me, no matter what. Ok?” Jae asks, grabbing her brother under his arms and pulling him out of the car. He nods in return, wincing when he feels the window scratch his knees. Jae stands up once he’s out, looking around for the rest of her family.

“Dad, stop!” she hears Mai yell a little further down the road. Jae spots her sister yelling at her dad, while her mother seems to be trying to hold him back from something. She immediately runs towards them, Sanha’s hand held tightly in her grasp. 

Mai looks briefly at them, thankful that they made it out of the car okay before turning her attention back to her parents.

“Please, I’m begging you. Don’t do this!” Their mother yells, holding tightly to her husband’s waist, tears streaming down her face. She steps in front of him, holding his face in her hands.

“Look at me. Just look at me,” she begs, eyes focusing on his face, trying to draw his attention. He never even acknowledges her though, eyes completely focused on something behind her. She turns her head in confusion, trying to find the source of his attention. Her eyes widen once they land on something in the distance, and her body immediately stops what it was doing, going pliant.

“Mother, is that you? Oh…how nice it is to see you again,” she whispers. Her husband takes her hand in his, before they start walking to the other side of the road together.

“Mom, dad, stop! What are you doing?!?” Mai yells, wanting to run towards them, but knowing in her gut that it’s already too late. They take a few more steps, turn around, and smile at their children before a truck runs them over, killing them both in an instant.

Mai lets out a blood curdling scream, while Jae makes her brother turn towards her, not wanting him to see what was left of their parents on the road. She’s terrified, absolutely terrified, but she needs to ger herself and the rest of her family to safety. She looks around before seeing some houses down the road to the right. She makes a beeline for that direction, grabbing her sisters’ hand in her left while holding her brothers’ in her right. 

People are running all round them in different directions, making it harder and harder to go where they need to go. Someone rams in to Jae from behind, making her slam into the ground, and causing her brother and sister to fall as well. Sanha starts screaming as people run over them, not even caring about the three people on the ground.

“They have a kid with them Jungkook, we have to help!” Jae hears a man yell, before she feels someone put their arms around her and her siblings. 

“Are you ok?” the man asks, briefly looking at each of the park children. They all nod in return, thankful that someone was kind enough to help them. The man smiles in return before helping them all stand up. “Good, then come with me. I know a house that’s safe.”

In any other situation, Jae might think before following a strange man to his house, but they didn’t have the time to think about anything other than getting to safety. They follow right behind the man, holding on to each other as tightly as they can. 

Someone else is standing at the door of the house they seem to be heading to, holding the door open for them. He looks similar to the man in front of them now, thought a bit younger in age. He looks frantically toward the group of them, waving his arms, signaling for them to hurry up.

The man steps to the side, turning towards Jae, Sanha, and Mai, urging them to go in first. They all rush in, immediately falling to the ground, holding onto each other for dear life.

“NO!!” They hear someone yell, looking up to see the younger man screaming to someone outside. Jae rushes up, running to him just in time to see the man that saved their lives just a minute ago walking away from the house.

“Jungkook, it’s too late. He’s become just like the others,” a woman says, appearing next to Jae from inside the house. Right after she finishes speaking, the man who saved them walks into a burning car on the side of the road, not even screaming as the flames lick his skin.

The woman pulls the boy she called Jungkook inside, slamming the door and immediately locking it.

Jungkook’s eyes are filled with tears, as he turns his head towards Jae. She feels the accusation his eyes are giving her, guilt filling her heart.

“I’m…I’m so, s-sorry…” she whispers, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. Jungkook just turns away from her, walking further into the house, and further away from her.

Jae wipes her cheeks before kneeling to the ground, hugging her brother and sister close to her.

“Where are we?” Sanha asks, looking up to his older sisters.

“You are in my house,” a man replies from what looks to be a living room, directly the to the right of where the three Park children are. He looks older, maybe in his mid to late 40’s, of average height but round in the stomach. Once Jae takes in the man who spoke, she notices that he is not the only one there. Four others are sitting and standing in various positions throughout the room, including the woman who closed the door not too long ago.

“I wish I could say it was nice to meet you,” the man says, walking forward and kneeling before them. “But you should be safe here, for the time being,” he smiles at all three of them before resting his eyes on Jae and sticking his hand out.

“My name is Bang Si-hyuk, and you are?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on my new twitter to receive updates on this fic, along with ideas for other fics I might write!  
> https://twitter.com/SerendipitousVM


	2. Plan A

May 20th, 2014

 

“It’s finally quiet out there, I haven’t heard any screams for a while now…” Mai says as she sits down on the couch, a warm cup of tea in her hands.

“Doesn’t mean it’s safe, I doubt it ever will be,” Jae responds next to her, taking a sip out of her own tea in her hands.

Three days had passed since the world all but came to an end. Three days of being stuck in this house with six people they had never met before. Nine people in total under one roof. As they learned not long after getting inside, the house belongs to Si-hyuk, along with his wife, Jang-Mi. She was the woman who locked the door after the Park children made it inside. Three of the nine are the park children, the last people to have the luck of being safe inside. Then there was Woo, a 28-year-old male construction worker; Yuna, a 40-year-old female hair stylist; and Lin, a 32 year old male stocker at a supermarket.

Lastly there was Jungkook, a 17-year-old, just like Jae. His family was neighbors with the Bangs until everything went to shit. Just him, his parents, and his older brother, Joonyoung. The same brother that saved Jae, Mai, and Sanha three days ago. Jungkook went upstairs the moment the doors were locked, and he hadn’t come down since.

To say Jae felt guilty was an understatement. It was a fact in her mind, they caused the death of Joonyoung. They killed Jungkook’s brother. Mai tried to reason with her, telling her that none of what happened could be their fault when they didn’t create this monster, or whatever the hell was outside. Jae just nodded her head whenever Mai told her this, not wanting to start a fight.

Their group discovered pretty quickly that something outside was making people kill themselves, something that Jae’s parents and Jungkook’s brother saw that drove them over the edge. They didn’t know what IT was exactly, some alien from outer space or a genetically engineered organism created by the government were just a couple of the many options the group pondered. Whatever it was, it seemed to only be outside, so the group shut and locked every door and window, and closed all of the blinds and shut every curtain. They boarded-up windows with spare wood from the basement, courtesy of some tools that Woo had on hand. So far, it seemed to do the job, as no one wanted to hurt themselves in any way. As long as they didn’t look at whatever it was outside, they should be okay. But there was a problem that was creeping up on them, one that was unavoidable.

“Ok, I just tallied up the food, and if we ration correctly, we could last about another four days before we are completely out,” Si-hyuk says, coming into the living room from the kitchen with his wife in tow.

“Four days? You only have food for four more days?” Yuna asks, raising her eyebrows in disbelief.

“I’m sorry I didn’t plan for a mysterious monster that decimates the population by having people kill themselves. Really, what was I thinking?” Si-hyuk responds sarcastically, rolling his eyes back at her, who just scoffs in return, continuing to pick at a hangnail on one of her fingers.

“At least it’s something,” Mai says, petting the head of a sleeping Sanha next to her.

“We should still figure out a plan for what we’re gonna do after we run out,” Lin states, with Woo nodding his head in agreement.

“Well…I did have one thought,” Jang-Mi says quietly, stepping out from behind her husband. “We could try the cameras.”

“Cameras? What cameras?” Jae asks, looking back and forth between the husband and wife.

“I installed a security system about a year ago after we had a run in with some neighborhood thieves. Caught them trying to break in, so I had some cameras installed around the house outside,” Si-hyuk answers.

“So how does this help us with our problem exactly?” Yuna asks.

“Maybe, whatever is out there, only has an effect on people who look at it directly. Maybe, if we look at it through a camera, it can’t hurt us. That way we could track its movements, and safely get to the nearest location with food and supplies without running into it,” Jang-Mi says, looking to her husband for his opinion, who nods in return.

“That just might work,” Si-hyuk responds, while Yuna squeals cheerfully, clapping her hands in appreciation.

“Just one problem,” Jungkook says as he comes down the stairs, entering the living room for the first time in three days. Jae immediately sinks back a little in her seat, avoiding eye contact with the boy in front of her.

“C’mon, what is the problem now? It sounds fine to me,” Yuna scowls, crossing her arms in disapproval.

“If we were to try this plan, then someone would need to be willing to potentially sacrifice themselves to that thing that’s out there. There’s no guaranty that this will work,” Jungkook responds, leaning against the wall.

“Then maybe we should think of something else,” Woo suggests, not liking the idea of losing anyone else.

Si-hyuk shakes his head in disapproval. “No, it’s the only plan we’ve got, so we have to try it. And since I installed the system, I’m the only one who knows how to work it. So, I will be the one to look at the camera feed.”

“But-“ Si-hyuk’s wife tries to protest, but he just places his hand on her arm. “I have to, it’s the only choice we’ve got,” he replies, rubbing her arm in an attempt to comfort her.

“Ok, then when should we test this theory out?” Lin asks, looking to Si-hyuk.

“You know what they say, no time like the present,” Si-hyuk responds, making his way out of the living room and up the stairs.

Jang-Mi, Jungkook, and Lin make their way to follow him, with Jae trailing not far behind. Before she can take two steps, however, her sister stops her in her tracks.

“No, I’ll go. You stay here with Sanha,” Mai says, leaving no room for debate. Jae just nods her head, turning around and sitting back on the couch next to her brother.

Si-hyuk leads them to his office upstairs, sitting down at a desk with a computer monitor. “Ok, once this monitor turns, four different camera angles will appear on the screen, one for the front of the house, one for the back, and two for the streets leading up to the house. Once we confirm that looking through the cameras has no effect on us, I can maneuver them to follow whoever goes outside, and guide them safely to wherever we want to go. You got the tape Jungkook?”

Jungkook nods, stepping further inside the office with a roll of duct tape in one of his hands. He begins taping Si-hyuk’s arms to the arms of the chair he is sitting in, following with taping his legs to the legs of the chair as well. Once it looks like Si-hyuk cannot break out of the hold of the tape to hurt himself, Jungkook looks up at the rest in the room, “Ok, everyone out. I’m about to turn on the monitors.”

“Wait!” Jang-Mi yells, rushing forward to her husband, She takes his face in her hands and brings their lips together. “Please be safe, my love…”she whispers, kissing his lips one last time before leaving the room.

Jungkook places his hand on Si-hyuk’s shoulder, giving him one last look. “You are a very brave man.”

“Or very stupid,” Si-hyuk responds, laughing to hide his fear.

Jungkook reaches for the button on the monitor. Once his finger is hovering it, he covers his eyes with his other hand. He presses on the button, whispering a final good luck before making his way out of the room, locking the door once it’s closed.

It takes a few seconds for Si-hyuk to gather the courage to look at the computer screen, scared that this just may be his final moments on this Earth. Once he does look, he sees the outside for the first time in three days. He sees empty streets, with a few abandoned cars scattered throughout. He sees the trees move slightly from the breeze. He even sees a couple of birds flying in the distance. He doesn’t know if it’s from being stuck in this house for the past few days, or if he’s convinced himself that this is the last thing he’ll see, but he thinks this just might be the prettiest view he’s ever seen.

A few minutes pass and still nothing happens. Si-hyuk sighs in frustration, rolling his head around to try to get rid of the crick forming in his neck.

“C’mon, you bastard. Where the hell are you?”

 

* * *

 

 

Downstairs, everyone waits patiently for confirmation from Si-hyuk that he is okay. Jang-Mi sits on the couch, her leg bouncing up and down, showing her anxiousness. Everyone expected a result quicker than this, but they couldn’t risk going into that room until Si-hyuk said it was okay. Mai sits next to Jang-Mi, trying to comfort the woman by putting her arm around her shoulders. A few more minutes pass before a thump could be heard from upstairs.

“What was that?” Jae asks, turning her head to look upward.

Right as she finished asking, two more thumps could be heard, followed by a bang.

“It’s Si-hyuk! Maybe this is him telling us it’s okay!” Jang-Mi yells, springing from the couch and rushing upstairs.

“Jang-Mi, wait!” Jungkook screams, rushing after her, followed immediately by Jae and Lin.

Jang-Mi quickly unlocks the door before Jungkook can reach her, springing it open.

“Si-hyuk, I’m so glad you-“ Jang-Mi freezes at the sight before her. Si-hyuk was slamming his head against the top of the desk, eyes red and unfocused.

“Shit…” Jungkook curses, running form behind Jang-Mi. He pushes the computer monitor off the desk, stomping on it to shut it down permanently before anyone else can see the screen.

Jae comes in once he does so, reaching for Si-hyuk to try to stop him from hurting himself.

“Jungkook, help!” Jae yells, not having enough strength to hold down the man. Right when Jungkook comes forward to help, one of Si-hyuk’s arms breaks free from the duct tape hold it was in. He uses this arm to push Jae into the wall, causing her to crash into a book case.

“Jae!” Jungkook rushes forward to the girl, briefly ignoring the raging man in the chair. Jae groans in pain, reaching her hand toward the back of her head as Jungkook kneels in front of her.

While the others are pre-occupied, with Lin trying to shake Jang-Mi out of the petrified state she was in, Si-hyuk uses his free hand to rip the duct tape off of his other arm and his feet. He then turns towards the window, pulling the curtains back and jumping through the glass, falling to his death two stories below.

It is eerily quiet in the office, except for the faint sound of the breeze blowing through the now broken window. Jungkook looks up away from Jae, seeing sunlight reflect on the wall opposite the window.

“Shit, everyone cover your eyes!” Jungkook warns, holding Jae into his chest while closing his own.

Lin immediately listens to the boy, but Jang-Mi does not. Jang-mi, who has been frozen ever since she came in to the room. She stands still as a board, eyes focused on the desk her husband was once at while tears slowly fall down her cheeks.

“This wasn’t part of the plan,” she whispers, looking up to see the window her husband crashed through not long ago.

Jang-Mi lets out a small gasp before her eyes widen, taking in the sight before her before they immediately turn red.

“Please, wait for me,” she says fearfully, rushing forward with all of her might and crashing through the same window her husband did.

Jang-Mi’s scream can be heard, before a crash resounds through the room. A moment of silence occurs again, everyone too scared and traumatized to even move. The first sound heard is a small whimper, followed by some quiet sobs. Jae’s body begins shaking, showing that she is the source of the cries being heard. Jungkook just holds onto her tighter, knowing nothing can ease the pain of what they just witnessed, but trying his best to make the pain go away anyway.

 

* * *

 

 

Eight hours later and the windows in the office are boarded up, courtesy of Woo. Seven people are scattered throughout the living room, no one making a sound as they mourn the loss of two of their own.

Yuna looks up from the ground, being the first to speak. “What do we do now?” she asks quietly.

No one responds for a moment, not wanting to have to think about a new plan. Thinking about a new plan would mean the old plan didn’t work. Thinking about a new plan would mean that they would have to acknowledge the deaths of Si-hyuk and Jang-Mi. No one wanted to do that, not ever. But they had to.

“We mourn the loss of two amazing people, but we also accept that they would not want us to waste the next four days being sad that they are gone. Si-hyuk sacrificed himself to try to get us some more food and supplies. We have to come up with a new plan to do just that. It’s what he would want,” Jungkook states calmly, standing up from his seat in the room.

Everyone nods in affirmation, before Woo turns his head toward Lin, conversing with him quietly.

Sanha stretches his arms, yawning in the process.

“Tired?” Mai asks him, looking down at the boy in her arms. Sanha nods in return, cuddling up against his eldest sister.

“Let’s take you to bed then,” Mai stands up carrying the boy to the room that the Park children share upstairs.

Jungkook walks over to the middle Park child sitting on the couch, while Yuna joins the conversation of the two men beside her.

“How are you doing?” Jungkook asks, joining Jae on the couch. Jae just hums, touching the back of her head lightly.

“Pretty sure there is a bump the size of a rock somewhere back there, but other than that I feel fine,” Jae answers, wincing as she touches a particularly sensitive part of her head.

“I wasn’t asking about your head, though I’m glad to hear that you feel okay. How are YOU doing?” Jungkook asks again, turning his head to look at the girl directly.

Jae sighs before leaning back into the couch, “I don’t know, honestly. All I know is that when I close my eyes, I can only see Si-hyuk, looking crazy and rabid. And God…Jang-Mi’s face when she saw him like that. It’s just heart-breaking, you know?”

Jungkook hums in agreement, nodding his head, “That’s the same look you had on your face.”

Jae turns to look back at the boy next to her, head titled in confusion. “When?” Jae asks.

“When you were running on the street three days ago, your sister and brother running beside you,” Jungkook responds, eyes slightly unfocused as he recalls the memory. “You had that same look on your face, just the epitome of fear, but you were still moving, dragging your siblings behind you. It’s like your body knew what was happening, but refused to let it completely break you to the point where getting out safely wasn’t an option anymore.”

Jae looks away from Jungkook for a moment, recalling that day for the first time since it happened. “I guess I just knew that I could save them, my brother and my sister. I knew we had a chance, so I wasn’t going to waste it.”

Jungkook nods his head, agreeing with the statement she made. Jae lets the moment they are sharing last for a moment before she turns her body to him fully.

“I just, I know I’ve said this before but you weren’t really in the right state of mind, and I just, I need you to know how sor-“ before Jae can finish her thought, Jungkook raises his hand to stop her.

“Don’t be sorry. You didn’t kill him. You didn’t kill my brother. You didn’t ask him to save you. He just did, because that’s the kind of person he was. He said he was saving you because you had a kid with you, but I know my brother. He would’ve saved you no matter what. He was just that amazing,” Jungkook says, mouth curving up in a small smile of fondness.

Jae smiles in return, “I don’t doubt that for a second. Do you mind if I ask how you completely turned around? Because I was pretty convinced that you were going to kill me three days go, and I wasn’t expecting that feeling to go away so suddenly.”

“Si-hyuk, he came up to my room yesterday and knocked some since into me. He knew exactly what I needed to hear, he always did.” Jungkook sighs as Jae nods, putting her hand on his shoulder in comfort.

Jungkook’s smile grows a little more as he turns his head to the girl, putting his hand on top of hers.

“Uhhh, I hate to interrupt whatever is going on here, but it’s kind of important. So, if you don’t mind,” Yuna says, walking up to the two on the couch. Jungkook turns his head away from Jae, bring his hand back to his side, while Jae does the same.

“What’s going on?” Jungkook asks, ignoring the comment Yuna made.

“Well,” Lin states, coming up beside Yuna, Woo joining on her other side. “We've got a plan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on my new twitter to receive updates on this fic, along with ideas for other fics I might write!  
> https://twitter.com/SerendipitousVM


	3. Three Little Birds

“This is absolutely crazy, there’s no way this could work,” Mai says, pacing around the living room.

“Stop being so negative, it’s full-proof. I helped think of the plan myself!” Yuna replies, smiling smugly.

“That’s what I’m worried about…” Mai mumbles, sitting next to Jae on the couch. Jae puts her hand over her mouth, covering the small laugh that escaped.

“All we have to do is black out all of the windows of Si-hyuk’s car with paint and newspaper and drive slowly to the supermarket that Lin has the key for. Right Lin?” Woo asks, turning his head toward the man sitting down next to him. Lin nods in return, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a set of keys.

“And remind me again how we are going to drive blindly to the supermarket?” Jae asks skeptically.

“Simple, GPS. I checked the car, and it has internal GPS. All we have to do is enter an address, and it’ll pull up a map with directions. We just do what the GPS tells us to do,” Woo states, shrugging his shoulders.

The two park sisters look at each other before turning to Jungkook, looking for his opinion on the matter. Jungkook thinks briefly before sighing and shrugging his shoulders, “I guess it’s the best plan we’ve got.”

Yuna claps her hands gleefully while Woo high fives Lin. Jungkook stands up, stretching his arms before walking out of the living room, the others not far behind.

 

* * *

 

May 21st, 2014

 

By morning of the next day, the group had managed to completely cover the windows and windshield of the car, but any person inside the car blind to the outside world. Jungkook claps his hands once in satisfaction of the work they had done before turning to the rest of the group.

“Ok, Mai, Woo and Lin, you ready to head out?” Jungkook asks, opening the driver side door of the car.

Lin’s eyes bug out, his head turning to look at the others rapidly before looking back at the boy,” Uhh, I’m sorry what?”

“Are you ready to go?” Jungkook repeats, a small hint of annoyance heard in his voice.

“Why do I have to go?” Lin asks, slowly backing away from the car.

“Becaaaaaause,” Woo says, grabbing Lin’s shirt from behind and pulling him towards the car. “You have the keys, and you worked at the store, so you know it better than anyone else. It only makes sense that you come with us. We don’t want to be out there any longer than we absolutely need to.”

Lin whimpers before being forced in the back seat of the car by Woo, who sits in the passenger seat himself.

“Why can’t I go?” Jae asks from the doorway, arms crossed in frustration.

“Someone has to stay and watch Sanha,” Mai says walking past her, joining Lin in the backseat.

“So? Yuna can do that!” Jae exclaims, though her voice doesn’t come off as certain as she hoped it would have.

Jungkook walks up to her, bending his head down to look her in the eyes.

“You and I both know that you don’t trust your brother with Yuna. Besides, you hit your head pretty hard yesterday. You need to stay and rest. Okay?”

Jae just sighs and nods, whispering a small good luck. Jungkook smiles and walks to the car, getting in the driver’s seat. As he turns the car on, Jae lets her hand hover over the garage door button. She covers her eyes completely before hitting it, letting the garage door open fully for the car to leave. Once she hears the car make its way to the street, she presses the button again, letting the garage door close, and hoping they all make it back safely.

 

* * *

 

 

Five minutes later and the car has moved about 500 feet, Jungkook trying his best to avoid whatever is blocking their way on the street.

_In 100 feet, turn right._

The group tenses as Jungkook turns right, feeling the car drive over a small bump.

“That didn’t feel like a speed bump,” Lin says quietly, while Woo shakes his head.

“Don’t let yourself think about what it could be. It’s too painful. It’s a speed bump, nothing else,” Woo says, leaning his head against the window.

Mai frowns, looking down at her hands, knowing full well it was a body they just drove over. She does her best to not let herself think of who it could’ve been.

Jungkook successfully makes the turn, listening for the next set of directions. All seems well until the car makes an alert message, letting the passengers know that they are driving close to something on the front right side of the car.

“It’s probably a truck or something,” Jungkook says, turning the car to the left. He only is able to move a few feet before the same alert message appears, this time for the front left side of the car. Jungkook sighs in frustration, stepping on the brake. There’s something blocking the whole front of the car, so he’ll have to reverse and try again.

Jungkook puts the car in reverse and starts to back up, but almost immediately the alert message comes up yet again. When Jungkook looks down to the screen, it shows that the entire car is surrounded.

Mai looks at the screen before looking up at the boy, “What is it now?”

Jungkook ponders his response before shaking his head, “I don’t know.”

The breeze seems to pick up from outside, as a shadow moves past Woo’s window.

“Guys, It’s out there,” Woo says, moving his head away from the window.

“What? Shit, we’re gonna die! I knew this was gonna happen!” Lin yells, reaching to unbuckle his seat belt. Woo holds his arms down before he can, looking directly in his eyes.

“Calm down, man. And be quiet!” Woo hisses.

Everyone in the car stills, seeing a shadow surround them.

“Jungkook, drive,” Mai whispers, head still as her eyes shift toward him.

“What?” Jungkook whispers back.

“There was never a truck in front of you. It’s, that thing. So just drive!” Mai says, reaching over and putting the car in drive.

Jungkook slams on the gas, driving straight ahead. Everyone in the car tries to keep calm, but they can’t help the screams that come out of their mouths. Jungkook jerks the car left and right, trying to hear the GPS over the hysteria from the others. With one last sharp turn of the wheel, the car spins 4 times before slamming against a building on its side, though not hard or fast enough to damage the car severely, or anyone inside.

Everyone holds their breath, eyes wide in fear before a voice breaks the silence.

_You have arrived._

A collective exhale is heard from everyone, as Woo laughs and leans forward with his hand up,” Nice job, kid.”

Jungkook high fives the man, before running his hands through his hair in slight disbelief that they made it through part of the plan unharmed.

“Everybody ready?” Jungkook asks, turning to look at the others in the car. They all nod in return, pulling blindfolds over their eyes.

Everyone slowly steps out of the car, reaching their hands out to try and find the door to the supermarket.

“I’ve got it!” Woo yells, hand on the door handle. The rest follow his voice, while Lin pulls out his key from his pocket and unlocks the door. Once everyone is inside, Jungkook closes the door and locks, letting everyone know that it should be safe.

Everyone takes off their blindfolds, taking in their surroundings.

“Holy shit…” Woo whispers, seeing aisles and aisles of food at their disposal.

“Check the windows, then search for food. Let’s go,” Jungkook says, closing the blinds of the windows closest to him.

Once all of the windows are accounted for, the group splits up, each person covering a different part of the store.

The group fills carts upon carts of food, though not as much as they would like, considering they only have so much room in the car.

Mai is walking around the front of the store before she hears a high-pitched sound coming from the customer service desk. She slowly walks towards it, bracing herself in case it’s any sort of threat. She peers over the desk before letting out a sigh, seeing what the cause of the sound was.

“How did you guys manage to survive, huh?” she asks, reaching and pulling out a bird cage with three parakeets inside. Mai contemplates a little bit before putting the cage in her cart, knowing Sanha would love them. She walks around before finding the rest of the group standing near a door in the back.

“What’s going on?” Mai asks, seeing the looks of concern on all of their faces.

Jungkook turns to her, eyeing the birds strangely before looking at the girl, “Heard a thump on the other side of the door. Don’t know what it is.”

“What’s back there?” Mai questions, looking to Lin, who just shrugs in return.

“Not much, really. Just some storage space and the loading dock.”

“Loading dock?” Woo asks, raising his eye brows.

“Yes? That’s what I said,” Lin replies.

“You mean like an area where trucks can pull through and drop off supplies? An area that has a large garage door to the OUTSIDE?” Woo asks, voice getting louder towards the end.

The louder thump startles the group, followed by what sounded like a groan.

“Is that…a person?” Mai asks, leaning her toward the door.

A few more groans and whimpers could be heard before muffled words made their way to the group’s ears.

“Help me, please…Somebody help me,” is heard before Lin gasps.

“That sounds like Jiyoung!” Lin says, reaching for the door.

“Wait!” Jungkook yells, blocking the man from the door. “Let’s think about this before we open the door. We have no idea what’s on the other side.”

“My friend is on the other side, I have to help him!” Lin yells, trying his best to push past him.

“Ok, ok, Lin calm down!” Woo yells, grabbing onto his arms. “How about this, we crack open the door, enough to get a small look inside. If everything checks out, we let the guy through. Okay?”

Lin nods his head, muttering a short sorry to Jungkook before taking a step back.

“Ok, but who looks inside?” Jungkook asks the two men.

“Lin immediately raises his hands, “I will. He’s my friend, so I will look.”

Jungkook nods his head, before stepping away, letting Lin step in front of the door. Lin turns the knob before letting the door open a crack, putting his ear closer.

“Jiyoung? It’s me, Lin. Can you hear me?”

A brief moment of silence occurs before something shifts behind the door, and a voice is heard more clearly than before.

“Lin? Lin, is that you? Oh, this is just glorious.”

Mai turns to look at the birds in her cart, seeing how they have started to chirp louder and become more spastic.

“Jungkook, I’ve got a bad feeling,” Mai whispers before looking up at the boy.

“Jiyoung, are you ok?” Lin asks, peeking his head through the crack. A hand reaches through, pulling on the collar of Lin’s shirt. Lin lets out a scream, pushing the hand off and backing away from the door.

The man Lin called Jiyoung tries to push open the door, but Woo and Jungkook come forward and try to push it close. The door comes to a standstill, with it open about half a foot. Jungkook and Woo keep trying to close it completely, but the man behind the door seems to possess strength ten times their own.

“Join me!!” Jiyoung yells, reaching through the space. “You yourself can see the light!!”

Mai cries, covering her ears at the high-pitched screeches the birds are letting out next to her.

Jungkook knows they are in for trouble, his foot keeps slipping further and further, giving him less leverage to close the door. Sweat falls down his forehead, as he gets ready to do whatever he can to save the rest. Before he has a chance to move, Lin yells and runs forward, pushing his way through the space in the door. He tackles Jiyoung to the ground, and the door automatically closes from the weight of Jungkook and Woo leaning on it.

“Shit, Lin!” Woo yells, reaching over to open the door and try to help him. Lin screams at them to run before a slice is heard, followed by a thump. Blood slowly comes from under the door, making its way to Jungkook’s shoes.

Mai’s eyes are wide as her body shakes in fear, uncovering her hands from her ears, the birds next to her a little calmer.

After a minute of silence, a thump is heard once again, followed by the familiar groan heard not too long ago.

“Help me…” the three hear, voice undeniably not Lin’s. Mai falls to her knees, sobbing into her hands, as Woo locks the door, knowing it was too late to save him.

“We have to go…” Jungkook mutters quietly, eyes unfocused and distant as he moves his cart, taking whatever Lin found with him as well.

Woo curses quietly before walking over to Mai, helping her up. They both wipe their eyes from shed tears as they go to their respective carts, following Jungkook to the front of the store.

The remaining three put their blindfolds on and leave, silently putting the food in the car and driving back home, a bird cage with three little birds sitting in Lin’s place.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on my new twitter to receive updates on this fic, along with ideas for other fics I might write!  
> https://twitter.com/SerendipitousVM


	4. Knock Knock

May 22nd, 2014 

2:35 a.m. 

Jungkook sighs for what feels like the 100th time that night, as the rest of the group sleeps in their respective rooms. He sits on a stool, elbows resting on the island in the kitchen, his head in his hands. He can’t sleep for shit. His sleep hasn’t been the best since this whole mess started in the first place, but now he can’t even close his eyes. When he does, all he sees is Bang Si-hyuk, eyes mad and crazy as he throws himself out the window. If it’s not Si-hyuk, then it’s Jang-Mi, tears streaming down her face as she follows in the footsteps of her husband. And now, Lin appears, the man everyone thought was a scaredy cat. All Jungkook sees is Lin sacrificing himself to save them. All he hears is the sound of a blade slicing through Lin’s throat. All he can smell is the blood that seeped from under the door.  

_This isn’t right, none of this is. What did we do to deserve this?_ Jungkook thinks, lifting his head to look towards the ceiling.  

“Can’t sleep either, huh?” Jae asks, standing in the doorway of the kitchen. Jungkook doesn’t really respond, just lowers his head back into his hands. 

Jae bites her lip, looking at the boy forlornly before taking a couple steps into the room. “Yeah, neither can I. Mind if I join you?” 

Jungkook just grunts, waving his hand near the empty stool to the left of him. Jae whispers a thank you before walking fully into the room, sitting on the stool next to him. She stays silent for a few minutes, giving him some time to process whatever is going through his mind.  

She takes a moment to really look at him, taking in all his features. He has dark brown hair that is beginning to fall into his slightly round eyes, with a small mouth tilted in a frown. She thinks for the first time since this started that he’s actually pretty cute.  

When she feels enough time has gone by, she turns her head toward him, “Mai told me everything. I’m sorry you guys had to go through that.” 

Jungkook lifts his head to look at the girl before muttering back, “It’s ok.” 

Jae just shakes her head and huffs in exasperation, “No, it’s not. It’s not even close to okay. I just don’t understand what the hell is going on! I mean, a zombie apocalypse would be more understandable than this shit. It’s ridiculous. Fuckin’ crazy!” Jae yells, hands pulling her hair. 

Jungkook’s eyes widen in surprise, having never heard her react in this way before. Jae turns her head and sees the look on his face. “Sorry, I just, I don’t know. I’m just really tired is all...” Jae mutters, head tilted downward. 

Jungkook just nods his head in understanding, “I get it. Believe me I do. You don’t need to apologize. You’ve obviously been bottling up some stuff since everything started. Probably because you don’t want your siblings to see you mad or scared. So, you need to let it out. I get it.” 

Jae lifts her hand and stares at him, a surprised look on her face. “Wow, you’re pretty perceptive.” 

Jungkook just shrugs, “Maybe I am, I don’t know. All I know is that bottling things up isn’t good, like ever. No matter what the circumstance. So, if you ever need to just vent, or something, I’m here. Or you know, Woo or Yuna,” Jungkook says, adding the other two people as an afterthought, though he’s not entirely sure why. 

Jae lets a smile grace her lips, as she turns her head away from him, trying to hide the small blush on her face. “Thanks,” she whispers, “I just might take you up on that. And the same goes for you, if you ever need to talk, or something.” 

Jungkook gives a small thank you back, before leaning back and stretching his arms. Jae can’t help but notice that when he smiles, he looks slightly like a bunny. Before she lets her thoughts drift too far into Jungkook’s looks, Jae lets her eyes wander the room, settling on the bird cage resting on one of the kitchen countertops. 

“I still can’t believe Mai found birds. I mean, seriously? Birds? How random is that?” Jae asks, standing up and walking towards the bird cage. 

“Yea, I meant to ask her about that, but then everything kind of went to shit. I never really got the chance,” Jungkook says, resting his elbows on the island and leaning forward. 

Jae lifts up the small opening, reaching her hand in and petting one of the parakeets. “She said she wasn’t sure if she should bring them or not, but then she saw us.” 

Jungkook tilts his head in confusion, “She saw who exactly?” 

“Us. My brother, myself, and her. She saw us in the birds. Three birds, three park siblings. She said, if these birds could survive, then maybe we could too. I thought that was pretty nice. And she knew Sanha had always wanted a pet. They’re not exactly golden retrievers, but they’ll do quite nicely I think.” Jae responds, smiling fondly at the bird in her hand before placing it down in the cage. 

“You guys seem pretty close,” Jungkook comments. 

Jae gives each bird one last pet before taking her hand out and closing the door. “I’d like to think that we are. We have our moments where we fight, but that’s most siblings right? I mean, even in the morning of when everything happened, I was being bratty and messing with the T.V. even though Sanha was watching it. But that wasn’t entirely my fault. Some birds outside my window woke me up super early, and I had to be up early that day too.” 

“Why? Everything happened on a Saturday, so we didn’t have school,” Jungkook says, eyebrows furrowed as he recalls what he was doing that morning. 

Jae becomes quiet at his question, letting out a sigh as she leans her body against the counter.  

“My mom,” Jae whispers, closing her eyes, voice cracking as she tries not to cry. “Umm, my mom was...she was pregnant. And she wanted us all to go to her appointment because she was finding out what she was having. I was supposed to have a baby sister in five months.” 

Jungkook visibly winces, immediately regretting what he just asked. He stands up, slowly walking over towards Jae, stopping once he is in front of her. He opens his mouth to apologize, but then he sees a few tears starting to fall from her eyes, as they slowly roll down her cheek. Instead, he just wraps his arms around her, rocking her side to side as the birds sing softly in the cage beside them. 

 

* * *

 

Two days pass without incident, everyone thankful for the break in loss, even if it is short-lived. And with the amount of food that they were able to get from the supermarket, it appears that surviving doesn’t seem like such a crazy thought anymore.

Woo has been hard at work, making some adjustments around the house to be extra safe. Now there isn’t one crack that anyone can look through to see outside. Yuna has broken down her snobby exterior, slowly opening up to Mai. Jae still can’t really trust her, based on how loudly she chews her food, but it’s gotten a little easier to handle. And sometimes she comes up with an idea or two. Sometimes. 

Sanha has gotten fairly attached to Jungkook, letting him tell him stories before he gets tucked into bed. Jae can’t help but find it endearing, seeing a 17-year-old acting cute to her brother. She tries to hide any look of fondness towards Jungkook when other people are around, but she knows her sister has caught her once or twice. She never pries though, just simply stating, “I approve,” before walking out of the room. Jae just ignores her. 

It’s not the best scenario they could be in. No, that would be if all of the people that they lost were still here with them. Lin would laugh loudly, telling a joke to Yuna to try and impress her, while Jang-Mi cooks everyone dinner, Si-hyuk's arms wrapped around her. And Mai would secretly be trying to impress Jungkook’s brother, because Jae got a good look at the man, and she knows her sister would've instantly been smitten.  

But they could never live that scenario, so they make the best of what they have. 

Sanha sits on the couch, trying to whistle back to the birds resting in the cage on his lap. Jungkook sits beside him, laughing at the boy’s failed attempts. 

“No, no, no. That’s not how you whistle kid. This is how you whistle,” Jungkook says, whistling a few notes.  

Sanha looks up at Jungkook before nodding his head in understanding, trying to mimic what he did. He doesn’t succeed, not even close, but Jungkook just smiles fondly, ruffling his hair. “That was better.” 

Mai comes out from the kitchen, spatula in hand. “Alright, breakfast is served!” 

“Yay breakfast!” Sanha cheers, jumping up and down on the couch. 

Yuna and Woo come into the room, having just been somewhere else in the house. 

“Where’s Jae?” Mai asks, looking around and not seeing her sister. 

Jungkook just shrugs, trying to calm down the boy still jumping on the couch. 

“Jae! Breakfast is ready, and I made pancakes!” Mai yells, head turned toward the stairs. 

A few thumps are heard before Jae’s head appears from upstairs as she looks down at everyone. 

“Did I hear pancakes?” She asks, a small smile forming on her lips. 

“Mhm, you heard right. Now hurry up!” Mai says, turning around and walking to the table in the kitchen. 

The smile grows wider on Jae’s face as she makes her way down the stairs, “Coming!” 

The rest of the group makes their way into the kitchen, not wanting to wait a single minute. 

Jae has just made it to the last step when two knocks are heard from the front door. She immediately freezes, turning towards the door in front of her. 

No one else notices, the sounds of eating and conversation masking the knocks. Jae is paralyzed, fear slowly creeping its way throughout her body. All she can do is stare, not even letting her eyes blink. 

She almost starts to hope that maybe she imagined what she heard, but then two more knocks hit the door, and her heart drops, “Guys!!” 

Everyone in the kitchen stops what they’re doing and runs to the hallway, recognizing that the tone of Jae’s voice was very serious, and very frightened. 

“Are you ok?” Jungkook asks, being the first out of the kitchen. Yuna and Woo aren’t far behind, with Mai bringing up the rear, Sanha in her arms. 

“Someone...or...something is at the door,” Jae whispers, eyes still unmoving from the door in front of her. 

Just as Woo is about to ask her what she means, two more knocks are heard, and everyone jumps in surprise. Mai holds Sanha closer to her chest, taking a couple steps back towards the kitchen. Yuna holds onto Woo’s arm, stepping behind the man, while Jungkook walks a couple steps forward, putting himself in between Jae and the door. 

Jae grabs onto the back of his shirt, holding it tightly in her grasp. Jungkook visibly gulps before he steps forward, “Who...Who’s there?” 

A gasp is heard outside before a few more knocks hit the door. “Please let us in! I promise we aren’t dangerous,” A male voice says, desperation pouring from his voice. 

No one responds, not really knowing what to do in this situation. Jungkook turns his head towards the rest of the group, looking for any response at all, but before he can ask them anything, the man outside continues. 

“Please! I have a girl with me. She’s only four years old. I promised her brother I would take care of her. We’ve been out on the road for two days!” 

Mai covers her mouth, stifling a gasp. “He has a child.” 

“That doesn’t matter,” Woo says, turning towards her. “Remember the last time we tried to help someone? Lin got killed!” 

Jae leaves the room briefly, while Jungkook turns to the rest of the group, away from the door. 

“Maybe we could ask him some questions or something? Try to get a feel for if he’s dangerous or not,” Jungkook suggests. 

“I’m with Woo, we can’t risk it. It’s suicide,” Yuna says, holding tighter onto Woo’s arm. 

While they continue to debate, Jae comes back into the hallway, a small blanket in her arms. 

“Ok, listen to me carefully,” Jae says, stepping to the door. 

“Jae!” Mai yells, though she doesn’t move to help her, not with her brother still in her arms. 

Jungkook quickly turns back around, walking straight to her. Jae just holds up her hand, not willing to let anyone talk her down from what she’s about to do. Her gut is telling her that she needs to help these people. One bad experience isn’t worth letting others die out there. 

“You said you have a little girl with you, right? I want to hear her talk,” Jae says determinedly.  

A short pause occurs before a quieter, higher-pitched voice speaks out, “Hello, I am here. Please help us. I’m scared...” 

Jae nods her head, recognizing that the voice did indeed belong to a young girl. “Ok, here’s what we’re gonna do. I have a blanket in my arms right now. I am going to crack open the door just enough to give this blanket to you. There should be two lamps above you on either side of the door.” 

Movement can be heard outside before the man makes a sound of agreement, “Yes, yes. I can feel the lights.” 

“Ok, good. You are going to step as close to the door as you can, and hang this blanket on each lamp, so that the blanket is behind you, and the outside cannot be seen when we open the door for you. Got it?” Jae asks. 

“Yes, I understand,” He responds. 

Jae turns to look at the rest of the group, “Is that ok?” 

The group sport faces of concern, but eventually everyone gives in and nods, with Jungkook mouthing be careful to her. 

Jae just nods before turning back around, putting her hand against the door, bracing herself. She counts down to the man outside before she opens the door slightly, quickly passing the blanket off before shutting the door closed. 

The group waits a moment, giving him time to do as she asked. Once a couple minutes pass by, Jae braces herself to open the door again. “Is it done?” 

“Sorry Sorry! It’s a little difficult when you can’t see anything. Ok, it’s done. We are good.” 

Jae takes in a quick breath before she opens the door, barely looking up as she pulls the man inside, who pulls the little girl quickly behind him. Once they are both inside, Jae slams the door shut, locking it immediately. 

The man and girl both have their hands up, his eyes closed while the girls are covered with a blindfold. Jungkook steps forward, patting them down to check for any weapons that they should be aware of. He’s surprised, as he doesn’t find anything of the sort on either of them. 

“Ok, you can take your blindfolds off,” Jungkook says, walking around them to join Jae at her side. The man just opens his eyes, while the girl reaches towards her blindfold and takes it off. She opens her eyes, looking at everyone around her before bowing before them, “Thank you so much for taking us in!” 

“Don’t thank us, thank her,” Yuna says, nodding her head towards Jae. The girl turns around, looking at Jae before walking towards her and wrapping her arms around her waist. “Thank you, Miss!” 

Jae looks down in surprise before patting the girls head, “Uhh, you’re welcome?” 

“Wait a second, where is your blindfold?” Woo asks, pointing towards the man. Everyone looks at him, noticing that he didn’t in fact have a blindfold on. 

“I can explain,” he says, arms up in front of him in a sign of meaning no harm. 

No one lets him, as everyone starts yelling at him, wanting him out immediately. The man looks between everyone not really sure who to address at the moment. He finally settles on the girl who let him in, reasoning that she would hopeful give him a chance to explain. 

Jae takes him in as he turns in her direction, looking up at his face. He is quite tall, with a lean and slightly muscular physique. His body, however, is quite average compared to his face, which Jae can honestly say is one of the most beautiful faces she has ever seen. Round, puppy-like eyes stare back at her, with dark and defined eyesbrows just above them. A mop of light brown hair rests atop his head, almost reaching his eyes. She tries not to let his good looks distract her, shaking her head before she looks to him again, and that’s when she notices it. His eyes, they never settle directly on hers. Instead, they shift from one side of her face to the other, sometimes even looking a little past it. 

“You’re blind,” Jae whispers, not quite believing it herself but knowing it to be true. 

Everyone shuts up, looking at Jae and the man. 

“What?” Woo asks, stepping forward. 

“He can’t see. He’s blind,” Jae repeats, turning her head briefly to Woo before settling on the man again. 

The little girl nods her head, pulling on Jae’s shirt. “Yes, he’s blind! So, he doesn’t need the eye cover thingy like I do.” 

Everyone stays silent after that, taking in what the little girl said. Jungkook bends down so that he’s eye level with her, tilting his head fondly, “What’s your name sweetie?” 

The girl lets out a big smile before extending her hand out, “My name is Min Ye-Rin, but everyone just calls me Rin!” 

Jungkook smiles before shaking her and, “It’s very nice to meet you Rin. My name is Jungkook. This is my friend Jae, and over there is her sister and brother, Mai and Sanha. He’s the same age as you are. And those two old geezers over there are Woo and Yuna.” 

Yuna scoffs while Woo just rolls his eyes, not nearly as offended as the woman beside him. 

Jae smiles at the little girl, waving before turning to the man in front of her. “And you, what’s your name?” 

“Taehyung. Kim Taehyung. Thank you for saving our lives.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on my new twitter to receive updates on this fic, along with ideas for other fics I might write!  
> https://twitter.com/SerendipitousVM


	5. Soulmates

“Yay pancakes!” Rin cheers, running into the kitchen with Sanha in tow. They both sit happily at the table, stacking pancakes on their plates and drenching them with syrup. 

Right as Rin lifts a fork full of pancakes to her mouth, Taehyung coughs, looking in her direction. She pauses, and bows her head, thanking everyone for the food before diving in. The rest of the group join the kids at the table, with Jae guiding Taehyung to a spare seat. 

“I can’t thank you enough for taking us in. I don’t think we would’ve lasted much longer on our own,” Taehyung says, bowing his head. 

“Are you kidding? A blind man and a 4-year-old girl? You’re lucky you survived this at all!” Woo says, groaning in pain when Yuna elbows him in the ribs. 

Taehyung just laughs, nodding his head in agreement. “You aren’t wrong, it really is short of a miracle. But it wasn’t always just us two. There were others.” 

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Mai says, putting a plate of pancakes in front of him as she puts a fork in one of his hands. 

“It’s ok, we’ll see them again someday. Real soon I bet,” Rin says with a mouth fool of food. 

“Soon?” Jungkook questions, eyeing the two of them curiously. Taehyung laughs before reaching for the girl, ruffling her hair. 

“It’s not what you think. I mean yes, we did lose people in the beginning, friends and family. Just like I’m sure you did. But I wasn’t talking about them earlier. I was talking about our two other companions, who we unfortunately were separated from by accident.” Taehyung explains, cutting a piece of pancake surprisingly well before putting it in his mouth. 

“You mean, they’re still out there?” Jae asks, sitting down next to him. Taehyung nods his head, looking a little somber before shaking himself out of it. 

“But like Rinnie said, we’ll reunite with them soon. If not now, then at the school for sure.” 

“School? What school?” Jungkook asks, sitting on the other side of Taehyung. 

Taehyung shrugs his shoulders, taking another bite. “I’m not sure what the school is called, but we were informed that it was a safe haven. Our group was given directions and told the location of it. That’s where we were headed right before we got separated.” 

“Wait a minute. Who gave you this information? And how do you know that they are trustworthy?” Woo asks skeptically. 

Taehyung ponders a minute, hand resting on his chin before he responds, “I actually wasn’t there when this was found out. Someone told Yoongi’s group before I joined. But I liked the sound of it. Call it, a gut feeling. Intuition. Something like that.” 

Woo looks at Taehyung like he’s crazy, eyes bugging out before he just shakes his head in disbelief. Jae even has to admit to herself that it seems pretty ridiculous. But then again, she just let two strangers into their house, all because she had a gut feeling that they would be okay. So, she just puts her hand on Woo’s arm, motioning for him not to press about it any further. 

“Where are you travelling from?” Mai asks, attempting to change the subject. 

“Hmm, about 40 miles up north. Just before you hit North Korea.” Taehyung replies. 

Jungkook chokes on a piece of pancake, hitting his chest before speaking, “40 miles? You’ve travelled that far when you can’t even see where you’re going?” 

“My brother was so good at driving, you should see him!” Rin responds, huge smile on her face as she speaks for the first time since she started eating. 

“We had one of those RVs, so it made travelling fairly easy. It was still pretty slow, considering we couldn’t see the road, but the GPS helped us with that most of the time. And to really make use of our time, some would drive while others would sleep, there was enough space for the four of us,” Taehyung explains. 

“You said the four of you,” Jae mentions, listening intently to everything that Taehyung was saying. 

Taehyung nods his head in return. “Yes, the four of us. Obviously, myself and Rin are two of those. Then we have Min Yoongi, Rin’s older brother,” Taehyung says, turning to the girl across from him. 

Rin nods her head, thanking Mai as she gives her empty plate to her. Jae smiles, looking at her two siblings before giving her attention back to Taehyung, “And? Who was the fourth?” 

Taehyung’s eyes close, looking as if he is recalling a sad memory before opening them again, a small smile on his face. “Jimin, his name is Park Jimin.” 

“Park? Hey! Me and my sisters are Parks too!” Sanha exclaims, sitting up higher in his seat. 

“Really?” Taehyung asks, turning to the boy with a large smile shaped like a box on his face. 

“Mhm!” Sanha nods his head excitedly, while Mai just laughs quietly, not wanting to break it to the boy that their last name is pretty damn common. 

“If you don’t mind me asking, how old is everyone? It’s hard to put ages to people when you can’t exactly see them,” Taehyung says shyly, mouth quirked in slight annoyance. 

“I’m four!” Sanha says, excitement still evident in his voice. Rin cheers, high fiving the boy that’s the same age as her. 

“And I'm 21,” Mai says, walking to the table and picking Sanha up, taking him to the sink so that he can wash his hands from the sticky maple syrup. 

“Both Jungkook and myself are 17, while Woo over there is 28,” Jae states, standing up from the table and picking up the empty plates. 

“What about you?” Yuna asks, eyeing the man before her. 

“Me? I’m 19. And what about you?” Taehyung responds, turning a cheeky smile over to her. 

“I’m 40. And I’ll kill you the moment any grandma joke leaves those pretty lips of yours,” Yuna says, crossing her arms and glaring at the unfairly good-looking man. 

Taehyung laughs before a smirk graces his lips, “40? You don’t look a day over 25.” 

Yuna smiles bashfully before pausing, taking a moment to think before scoffing, “Haha, very funny.” 

Everyone else in the room laughs, enjoying the lighthearted moment while it lasts. 

 

* * *

 

14 hours later and Jae is walking throughout the house, checking up on everyone to make sure they’re ok. She can’t help but coo when she walks by her and her sibling’s room, seeing Sanha and Rin cuddled up on one of the beds, while Mai sleeps in the other. She tucks the children in, kissing both of their foreheads before she heads downstairs.  

She walks to the kitchen, seeing that the light is still on. Normally, she would assume Jungkook was there, having trouble sleeping again. But she saw him upstairs, passed out for the first time in the past few days. She turns the corner into the kitchen and sees their newcomer, Taehyung, reaching for a mug in one of the cabinets. Unfortunately, he seems to be having some trouble finding where it is, so Jae coughs, making her presence known. 

“Can I help you with anything?” She asks, walking into the kitchen. 

Taehyung spins around, a somewhat embarrassed expression on his face. “Umm, well, Mai mentioned earlier that you guys have hot chocolate. And that always seems to help me when I can’t sleep, so...” 

“Say no more,” Jae says, walking briskly to the cabinet and grabbing two mugs, placing them on the counter before getting two packets of instant hot chocolate. 

Taehyung stays quiet, not wanting to distract the girl as she makes the two drinks. A couple minutes pass and Jae places two mugs of steaming hot chocolate on the island, tapping one of the stools so that Taehyung knows he can sit down. 

He whispers a thank you before bringing the mug to his lips, taking in the aroma before tipping the mug back slightly. A quiet moan escapes his lips from the taste, to which he immediately covers his mouth in embarrassment. Jae just laughs, taking a couple sips from her own. 

More time passes as the two just sit quietly, enjoying the presence of the other. Taehyung keeps the mug cupped in his hands, savoring the warmth as he turns his head towards Jae. 

“I hope you don’t mind if I ask, but I was just wondering how your group came together?” 

Jae hums, swallowing the hot chocolate that was in her mouth before placing her mug down in front of her. “I’m not sure about the others, but it was luck on my family’s part. Luck, and a very brave man. My family was just outside when everything really went bad, and right as I thought my siblings and I were going to be trampled by the stampede of people running around, Jungkook’s brother ran to us and brought us here. He didn’t make it though...” 

Taehyung nods his head slowly, listening to her intently. “I’m sorry about that. That must’ve been hard to live with. I’m not saying it’s your fault, but any normal person would undoubtedly feel guilty afterwards, even if no blame is placed on them.” 

“Yea, I definitely blamed myself for the first few days, probably still do a little bit. But it was actually Jungkook who told me to stop. I don’t know how he found it in him to forgive me, but he did,” Jae commented, looking down at her hands in her lap. 

“It’s pretty easy to forgive someone when there’s nothing to forgive,” Taehyung replies casually, bringing the mug back up to his lips. 

Jae just smiles, relaxing her body before turning towards him. “Since you asked me, am I safe to assume that I can ask you?” 

Taehyung just smiles, nodding his head. “What do you want to know?” 

Jae ponders a moment before deciding on a few set of questions, “Rin, and her brother, and that other guy you mentioned, Jimin was it? Did you know them before everything started?” 

Taehyung’s head moves side to side, as if to say yes and no. “Jimin, yes. Though we were never super close. We went to the same high school, but never really interacted much. When it was clear the problem was hitting in South Korea, we just happened to be around each other at the time. Haven’t separated since. Well, that is, until two days ago. And we met Yoongi and Rin about a day after it started. They were with others, but they didn’t make it past day 3.” 

“How did you guys get separated?” Jae asks, her head tilted in curiosity. 

Taehyung sighs, head tilted upward as he recalls the memory. “We encountered some people that were... not right. I don’t know what exactly was wrong with them, but right when they saw us, they just started attacking. They had guns, and so did we, but they outnumbered us. Even more when you take into account that one of us is blind and the other is a kid. Jimin and Yoongi were fairing ok, at least I think they were, based on what I was hearing. But one of the men grabbed Rin while the others distracted them, and he took off with her. I heard her scream, and I just ran after them, doing my best to keep up. By the time I got to them, little Rinnie managed to escape from his arms, and I stabbed him with the knife I had in my hands. Thankfully, Yoongi and Rin went to brother and sister Tae Kwon Do classes before the end of the world happened, or else, I don’t know what would’ve happened.” Taehyung laughs shortly, before finishing his answer. “When her and I ran away, we tried our best to go back to where we thought the RV was, but in the midst of all of the running and screaming, we lost our way. We never were able to find our way back to them.” 

“So, you didn’t see, or, you didn’t hear Yoongi or Jimin get hurt before you went to save Rin?” Jae asks, correcting herself mid-sentence. 

Taehyung shakes his head, taking another sip from his mug. “No, thankfully I didn’t. I really think we’d all be safe together if that man hadn’t targeted Rin. But we prepared for something like this to happen. We agreed that if any of us were to get separated, we would continue with the plan to go to the school. Looking for the others would just get us potentially even more lost. I knew Jimin and Yoongi would be ok. They were near the RV so as long as those other people didn’t steal it, they should be fine. But Rin and I, we’ve just been going from house to house, looking for shelter until we can find a mode of transportation. Thankfully, each of us had a map, so as long as we know where we are, then we know which direction to go.” 

Jae smiles fondly at the man, admiring his will and strength to protect and save Rin. She sits quietly, finishing up her hot chocolate before thinking back to earlier, when everyone was in the kitchen. 

“Taehyung? You and Jimin, you said you two weren’t close before everything happened?” Jae asks inquisitively. 

Taehyung nods his head, drinking absentmindedly. 

“I’m sorry if I’m over-stepping any boundaries, but earlier, when we were all talking, I couldn’t help but notice something. This could just be me being over-analytical, so please, feel free to shut me down if I’m wrong. But, before you mentioned Jimin’s name, you kind of closed your eyes, and looked a little...I don’t know, lost? Sad? Which is understandable because you guys got separated, but then your face, like, immediately changed to a look of...fondness?” Jae asks, head tilted and eyebrows drawn, showing her confusion. 

Taehyung sighs, setting the now empty mug on the island before leaning back. “You noticed, huh?” 

Jae mumbles a quick apology, waiting to see if he would continue any further. 

Taehyung takes a moment for himself, closing his eyes and breathing steadily before opening them again. “Jimin, he just came out of nowhere for me. I always knew of him. We went to a fairly small school, so everyone knew of everyone. But in the total of four years of school that we shared, I maybe said ten words to him. Our paths just never crossed. But then, on the morning that everything happened, I went to the store to grab some things, and who else but Jimin was there. Even though I couldn’t see him, I knew he was there. He has this pretty distinguishable smell about him, and when he walks, his shoes make the lightest tap against the ground. He’s so graceful, my Chim Chim.” 

Jae smiles fondly, head resting in her hands as she listens to the man next to her. 

“I don’t know what came over me, but for some reason I walked right up to him and said hi. He was pretty startled, which I guess I would be too if a blind man walked right up to me as if he could see everything, and greeted me like he knew exactly who I was. But he just composed himself and greeted me back. And before we could say anything else, we heard screams in the street outside, and everyone was running. Jimin just grabbed my hand, and he never let go,” Taehyung says, sighing like a love-sick fool at the end. 

“When did it change for you? When did he change from just a person from high school to something more?” Jae whispers back. 

Taehyung turns his head towards her, a huge boxy smile gracing his lips.  

“”Isn’t that how falling in love so often works? Some stranger appears out of nowhere and becomes a fixed star in your universe,” Kate Bolick,” Taehyung says, smiling proudly. “I’m sorry, I tend to say a lot of quotes about anything and everything. It’s quite the habit of mine.” 

Jae blushes slightly, thinking of a certain man with a bunny smile before shaking her head, ridding those thoughts from her mind. 

Taehyung smiles as he recalls some clearly fond memories. “To answer your question, I’m not sure, to be honest. I was actually pretty annoyed with him for the first couple of days. He was just being so damn overprotective. But then we had a pretty big argument and I found out why he was being so protective. It was because he cared. He cared for me for so long, even back in high school, and I never knew. It didn’t take long after that for me to get to know him, the real Jimin. And Jae, he’s so good. He’s such an amazing person. I’m not just a blind man to him, someone with a handicap that is so bothersome. He makes me feel like I can see anything and everything. I’m so lucky to have found him. He’s my soulmate, that man.” Taehyung says, wiping a few stray tears that started to fall from his eyes. 

 It was then, it that moment, as she wraps her arms around Taehyung’s frame, that she was glad she opened the door for them. Living in this world, it’s so easy to get lost in the days, stuck inside and repeating the same motions. But now, with them here, she feels like she has a new purpose. She can and will do everything she can to get Rin back to her brother, and Taehyung to Jimin. To his soulmate. She just has to. No matter what it takes. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on my new twitter to receive updates on this fic, along with ideas for other fics I might write!  
> https://twitter.com/SerendipitousVM


	6. Joy Ride

May 27th, 2014 

  

Another couple of days pass with little to no changes. Everyone establishes their own daily routine, making sure that chores are spread evenly throughout the group. Taehyung and Rin manage to fit in well, helping out as much as they can without being a burden. After the first couple of days, Taehyung manages to get a feel for what the house is like, taking note of where certain steps and doors are. It amazes everyone how quickly he adjusts, but he just assures them that he’s not that special. When you’re used to being blind your entire life, it becomes less and less of a hassle. Jae has a feeling that he’s just trying to be humble. 

People are starting to get antsy, however, having been stuck inside for about 10 days now, with little to no interaction with the outside world. Jungkook tries to keep everyone in order, reassuring them that the system they have is working quite well, and could work for them for a long time. Woo and Yuna aren’t having it, wanting to branch out of the space they’ve been confined to. 

“We should try to explore, see if others are out there!” Woo says, wanting desperately to breath some fresh air, just for once. 

Jungkook shakes his head. “No way. We aren’t risking our lives to go explore a world we’ve already seen. Do you want to get yourself killed?” 

“At least we’d be living! You call this a life? We are basically the walking dead in here. Doing the same thing every single damn day. It’s ridiculous!” Woo yells, stepping a little closer to the younger man. 

“Fine then, go on your own! But the rest of us aren’t leaving. We’re safe here!” 

Woo grunts in frustration, looking away and rolling his eyes before looking back. “What about a supply run? Some of us can take the car and go to a couple of stores to get things we might need.” 

Jungkook shakes his head, crossing his arms. “We just did a supply run not too long ago, and we got plenty of food and water for the next couple of weeks. We’re fine. I’m not putting anyone’s life at risk just so you can go on a joy ride.” 

Woo steps right up to Jungkook, his face inches away from the other. “And who made you the boss, huh? Last time I checked, I was older than you, so show some respect to your elders, kid.” 

Jungkook looks right at Woo, not backing down. “Or what?” 

Woo lifts his fist in the air, ready to punch Jungkook before Jae has had enough, coming in between the two men and pushing them away from each other.  

“Woah woah woah, let’s calm down, huh? Fighting isn’t going to solve anything.” 

“Yea Woo, he’s not worth it,” Yuna says, covering Woo’s fist with her own hand and pulling it down to his side from where it was hanging mid-air. 

Woo just glares at Jungkook before scoffing, walking out of the room with Yuna not far behind. 

Jae focuses her attention solely on Jungkook, who walks into the living and throws his body on the couch, covering his eyes with his arm. She sighs before sitting down next to him, moving his arm out of the way so she can look at him directly. 

“What’s going on with you?” 

“What, you agreeing with Woo too?” Jungkook yells. 

“No, actually I’m not. So drop the attitude, okay?” Jae yells back, crossing her arms. 

Jungkook leans forward, resting his elbows on his legs as he lays his head in his hands. “Sorry, Woo just stresses me out. I just don’t want him to do anything rash.” 

“I’m sure he won’t, Kook. He’s just feeling a bit restless, that’s all. You just gotta learn how to calm him down, not egg him on.” 

Jungkook nods his head before freezing, eyes opening slightly wider as he slowly turns his head to face Jae. “What did you call me?” 

Jae’s eyes mimic Jungkook’s as her cheeks flush a light pink. “Umm. Well, I guess I might have, accidentally, ummm. Kook?” Jae barely gets any words to leave her mouth, completely flustered under the boy’s stare. 

Jungkook’s eyes lose focus slightly as he whispers, “Kook, my brother used to call me that.” 

Jae immediately shrinks down, looking away. “I’m sorry, I won’t say it again.” 

“No, I actually liked it.” 

“Huh?” Jae lets slip, looking back at the boy next to her, her cheeks regaining their previously pink color. 

Jungkook smiles shyly, reaching a hand forward to hold one of Jae’s, covering hers completely. “You can call me Kook, Jae. Heck, you can call me whatever you like.” 

Jae’s face gets ten times redder, as she tilts her head down to look at his hand covering her own. 

“Oh, ummm. Ok. Yea, I’ll- I’ll do that then.” 

Jungkook chuckles, squeezing her hand a little as he puts hit other hand under her chin, lifting her head up to look at him. “Good.” 

Jae gulps, eyes looking anywhere but at the doe eyes in front of her.  

“How do you always manage to make me feel better in the matter of seconds?” Jungkook asks, the question directed more to himself than to Jae. 

Jae’s eyes finally settle on his as she whispers a response, “I don’t know.” 

“I don’t think I could manage this world without you Jae, so please, stay by my side as long as you can,” Jungkook confesses, before letting go of her hand, walking out of the room as Taehyung calls for him upstairs. 

“Always,” Jae responds, knowing she was too quiet for him to hear her, but needing to say it anyway. 

  

* * *

 

 _“What do you think I look like_ _TaeTae_ _?”_  

 _Tae turns his head to the boy next to him, highly aware of the way their shoulders are touching as they lay down next to each other._  

 _“Why do you want to know Chim?”_  

 _Jimin just shrugs his shoulders, knowing Taehyung will feel the movement of his body. “Just curious, I guess.”_  

 _Tae hums, turning his head forward before responding. “Well, I think your smile looks like the sun, right when it’s shining it’s brightest in the afternoon. And your eyes, they must look like the moon, wide and full when you are curious, but crescent-shaped when you are laughing. Your hair has to be soft, and a little bit long, with the amount of times_ _Yoongi_ _says you run your hands through it. I’d like to think you became a little adventurous after high school and dyed it. A nice, bright color, to match the radiance of your smile. And your lips,_ _well I know_ _the_ _y are_ _full, luscious and desirable, yet soft like a pillow to the touch. You’re a dancer, so I know you’re in shape, with your legs probably carrying the most muscle. But somehow you are still light on your feet, carrying yourself as if you weigh nothing. And even though your arms, and legs, and abs show pure muscle, your cheeks show innocence, still carrying the slightest bit of_ _baby_ _fat in them. I imagine you to be quite an anomaly, Park Jimin.”_  

 _Taehyung finishes his thoughts, turning back to the boy_ _laying_ _next to him. If he could see him, he would see silent tears falling slowly down his face, eyes wide as he takes in everything that was just said. He would see a shaky hand reach up to wipe away any evidence of him crying, not wanting to make Taehyung think he grew sad at his words. It was quite the opposite actually. Jimin didn’t know how to respond, when he was expecting a simple answer_ _of  ‘_ _I don’t know, black hair, and brown eyes?’_  

 _Not only was he shocked at the detailed description Taehyung provided, but also at the accuracy of his words. Even down to the hair, Jimin thinks, reaching up to run his hand through his bright orange locks._  

 _Jimin turns to face Taehyung, preparing a similar heart felt speech of his own, when Tae abruptly continues._  

 _“And your ass, it’s_ _gotta_ _be just phenomenal. I’m talking grade A.”_  

 _Jimin’s eyes widen at the sudden confession, before he bursts out laughing, leaning his body even more on the man next to him as his eyes disappear into crescents._  

 _“And what makes you say that, Kim Taehyung?”_  

 _Taehyung smiles his signature boxy smile. “Simple. I am an ass man. And you, you are my soulmate. Therefore, you must have a nice ass. It’s simple math. I thought you were head of our class?”_  

 _Jimin laughs even more, resting his head on_ _Taehyung’s_ _chest as he wraps his arm around his waist. “You are correct. How stupid of me.”_  

 _Taehyung just laughs back, putting his hand over the one Jimin has on his waist._  

 _“So, how did I do?”_  

 _“Amazingly. You passed with flying colors. I am quite impressed. Are you sure you’re blind?” Jimin jokingly asks._  

 _Taehyung uses his hand to tilt Jimin’s head up to look at him, putting all jokes aside as he fixes Jimin with a look of pure love. “I don’t need to see to see you Park Jimin. You are impossible to miss.”_  

 _Jimin’s cheeks start to redden, as tears threaten to fill his eyes yet again. He sighs dreamily, smiling fondly at him before his face turns more serious, taking in the man he gets to call his._  

 _“You are quite an anomaly yourself, Kim Taehyung,” Jimin whispers before reaching forward, directing Taehyung’s lips to connect to his._  

 

* * *

 

 

“Tae? Taehyung, you alright?” 

Taehyung jolts himself out of the daydream he was just in, shaking away the memory as he smiles brightly at Jae. 

“Yes, I’m fine. Sorry about that, just still trying to wake up for the day.” 

Jae eyes him up and down, shrugging her shoulders although she is not entirely convinced. She takes the laundry basket she has in her hands, walking towards to the small room where the washer is. 

“I wouldn’t go there if I were you,” Taehyung warns, casually taking a sip out of his orange juice. 

Jae looks at him confusedly before making up her mind and opening the door anyway. She looks inside before shrieking, letting out an immense amount of apologies before slamming the door shut, running back in the kitchen. 

“Holy shit, my eyes!” Jae yells, rubbing at them, trying to will away what she just witnessed. 

Jungkook walks into the kitchen right at that exact moment, taking in the girl who looks to be in pain, hands rubbing at her eyes. 

“Oh no, Jae! What’s wrong?” Jungkook yells, running immediately to the girl, trying to get her to look at him. 

Taehyung starts laughing, hitting his knee with his hand. 

“Look in the laundry room, see for yourself.” 

Jungkook turns his head to the room Taehyung mentioned, walking slowly towards it. His hands shake as they reach for the doorknob. He takes one last breath before he swings the door open. What he sees is Woo and Yuna, right in the middle of having sex on top of the washing machine, not giving a care to whoever just opened the door. 

“Jesus Christ,” Jungkook mutters, closing the door shut and walking back into the kitchen. 

“My eyes, my eyes! I will never be able to get that mental image out of my head!” Jae says dramatically, shaking Jungkook’s shoulders. 

“I warned you, Jae. But nooooo, you didn’t wanna listen,” Taehyung says, throwing his arms in the air. 

“How did you know they were in there?” Jungkook asks curiously. 

“Simple, your other senses are heightened slightly when one is taken away. So, my hearing is better than everyone’s in this house. I could hear those two humping like bunnies all the way upstairs.” 

“Can we please stop talking about them, doing...what they are doing right now,” Jae begs, sitting down on one of the stools. 

“It’s moments like this that I am thankful I can’t see,” Taehyung says, smiling his boxy smile at Jae. 

Jungkook and Jae laugh, but immediately stop when Woo and Yuna walk out of the laundry room and into the kitchen. 

“Oh, good morning everyone,” Yuna says suspiciously, avoiding looking directly at everyone while she pours herself a glass of orange juice. 

“Good Morning Yuna! How has your day been so far?” Taehyung asks, while Jae covers the smile growing on her face. 

“Pretty normal I guess, nothing really special happened. Like every other day here,” Yuna replies, giving Taehyung the side-eye as she drinks. 

“Wow Woo, you just gonna let her talk about you like that?” Taehyung says, turning to face the man in question. 

Woo’s eyes widen as he tries to sputter out a response, while Yuna spits out the orange juice that was in her mouth. 

“Maybe next time you guys should go somewhere a little more private, like your room upstairs?” Jungkook suggests, trying to contain his laughter. 

Yuna’s face becomes as red as a tomato as she briskly walks out of the kitchen, dragging Woo behind her. 

The rest of the group finally lets out the laughter that they were holding in, feeling embarrassed for the couple. 

“What’s so funny?” Mai asks, walking into the kitchen for the first time that morning. 

“Trust me, you don’t wanna know.” Jae says, still trying to get rid of the mental images from earlier out of her head. 

Mai looks at her sister, tilting her hand in confusion. She’s trying to figure out what just happened when a hand holding a glass obstructs her vision. She follows the hand to see it belongs to Taehyung, as he sports a suspiciously innocent smile. 

“Orange Juice?” 

“You guys are weird...” Mai comments, taking the glass out of Taehyung’s hand. 

 

* * *

 

 

Later that day, everyone is in the living room, enjoying each other’s company. Sanha and Rin are playing rock, paper, scissors with Jungkook and Mai, having been obsessed with the game since Jungkook taught them both. 

Jae and Taehyung watch fondly from across the room. Well, Jae watches, while Taehyung reacts after hearing whoever groans in defeat, figuring out who lost the round. 

Meanwhile, Yuna is sulking in the corner, still embarrassed from the events that took place earlier that day. Woo walks into the room, looking at everyone before focusing his attention on her. 

“Yuna, could you help me with something in the garage?” Woo asks the woman. 

“Ten bucks says that’s code for, will you come with me to the garage so that we can have sex again,” Taehyung whispers in Jae’s ear, while the latter tries her best to stop a laugh from escaping her mouth. 

Yuna simply nods, walking out of the living room with Woo. A few moments pass, everyone resuming what they were doing before Woo’s interruption, until they hear the garage door opening. Everyone immediately stops, taking a few moments to listen carefully to make sure that they were hearing correctly. 

“Is that...a garage door that I hear?” Taehyung asks quietly, while Mai, Jungkook, and Jae look at each other fearfully before shooting up, running towards the garage. 

When they make it to the door, they hear a car engine start before it speeds out of the driveway, tires squeaking on the street leading away from the house. 

“Shit!” Jungkook yells, closing the garage door after them. 

“What happened?” Taehyung asks, walking to that part of the house with Sanha and Rin trailing behind. 

“They took the car! Yuna and Woo took the car!” Mai screams, hitting the wall next to her. 

Sanha starts crying after his sister’s outburst, making her collect herself before she kneels in front of him. 

“I’m sorry Sanha, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to yell. It’s ok. Everything is gonna be ok...” Mai says as she comforts the boy, taking him in her arms. 

“Kookie, where did Yuna and Woo go?” Rin asks, walking up to him. 

Jungkook picks Rin up, holding her in his arms. “They...they wanted to go out on their own Rinnie. Just the two of them. They just wanted some space, that’s all,” Jungkook says, trying to comfort the girl, hoping that his words were believable. It took everything in his will power not to just scream and punch everything in sight. How could he not see that they were planning this? 

“Hey,” Jae mutters, coming to stand beside him. 

“Stop berating yourself, it’s not your fault. No one saw this coming,” Jae says, rubbing Jungkook’s arm. 

“That doesn’t change the fact that we lost our only car.” Jungkook replies, rocking the girl in his arms side to side. 

Mai goes to the kitchen, hoping to get a snack to comfort her brother who is still visibly upset. A moment later, and Mai walks back into the hallway, face completely full of devastation. 

“Mai, what’s wrong?” Jae asks, coming up to her sister. 

“The food, they took all of the food and water,” Mai says, sinking to her knees on the ground. 

Jae inwardly curses, shaking her head in utter disbelief before taking Rin out of Jungkook’s arms and grabbing her brother’s hand. 

“Ok guys, I think it’s nap time, why don’t you guys go upstairs and I’ll be up in a minute to tuck you in.” 

Rin nods, taking Sanha’s hand into her own as she leads him upstairs. 

“We’re screwed,” Jae curses, leaning up against the wall, suddenly not having enough energy to hold herself up anymore. 

“I’ll go on foot, there’s no other choice,” Jungkook says, a look of determination in his eyes. 

Jae stands up right after he says that, “No way in hell you’re doing that. That’s a suicide mission!” 

“What other choice do we have Jae?” Jungkook asks, fear showing in his eyes. 

Jae just argues back, until they’re both yelling at each other, while Mai looks up at them from the ground, tears in her eyes. 

“Guys?” Taehyung says meekly, joining the conversation for the first time since Mai came with the bad news. 

“What?!?” Jungkook and Jae turn to Taehyung, yelling at the same time. 

Taehyung’s eyes widen in shock before he gives them both a moment to breathe before he talks again. 

“I’ll admit, this isn’t exactly the best thing to happen. But I was going to bring this up anyway, so looks like I’ll be bringing it up now.” 

“What are you talking about Taehyung?” Mai asks, standing up in curiosity. 

“I’ve been thinking a lot, about Jimin and Yoongi. They probably have made it pretty far by now, considering they had an RV. They might even be there already.” 

“Be where Taehyung?” Jungkook asks in frustration. 

Taehyung looks up at him, a look of determination in his eyes. “The school. We were heading to the school because it is safe. I know it is.” 

“Tae...are you suggesting what I think you are?” Jae asks, walking towards him. 

Taehyung nods his head, looking more certain by the second. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but I also know that I can’t make this trip alone. So, I’m asking you all now. Will you come with me and Rin to try and find Jimin and Yoongi? Will you leave with us, to find a safe place that we can live the rest of our days without living in fear?” 

Jungkook, Jae and Mai look at each other, talking silently between the three of them before Jae and Mai nod their heads. 

Jungkook sighs, looking down before answering him. 

“Looks like we’ve got no choice. When do we leave?” 

A smile fills up Taehyung’s entire face, tears leaving his eyes as he jumps into Jungkook’s arms. 

“Thank you,” Taehyung whispers gratefully, while Jungkook nods his head in a silent form of you’re welcome. 

Taehyung lets go of the man to hug Mai and Jae, arms wrapped around both girls as only one thought fills his mind. 

 _Jimin, I’m coming._  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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> https://twitter.com/SerendipitousVM


	7. The Sun and the Moon

3 years later 

June 14th, 2017 

 

Jae steadies her breath as she walks briskly through the forest, hand secure on a taught string tied around the trees, connecting them. It has been a year since they had settled in this new location, a cabin deep within a forest somewhere in Daegu. The group had made their way quite nicely in the beginning toward Busan, where the safe school was located. But, a year and a half down the road, and they had another run-in with some people who weren’t quite so friendly. If it wasn’t for Jungkook, the group most likely wouldn’t have made it out alive. Thankfully, they did, but not without a price. The people they ran in to took Taehyung’s map, which was their only way of knowing where to go. They tried continuing the trek toward Busan without it, but after another 6 months, they seemed to get more and more lost. It’s not easy traveling across a country on foot, especially when you can’t see exactly where you are going. Eventually, they had to stop and settle, at least for the time being. Sanha and Rin were clearly exhausted, while Mai was even more tired taking care of the two. And although Taehyung was physically unharmed, mentally, he wasn’t all there. Once he had lost the map, his willpower dwindled immediately. All hope of finding Jimin and Yoongi seemed to completely vanish from his body, leaving an empty vessel of a man. One year later and he is still the same, empty and hopeless. He used to be a beacon of light, a promise for a better future. Now, his eyes seep sadness, lost in the thought of never seeing his soulmate again. 

It breaks Jae every day, seeing the man she considers to be an older brother to her completely broken. She tried to comfort him in the beginning, but once she saw how nothing was changing, she resolved to somehow find a way to Busan. It’s not going to be an easy task, but when has the past few years ever been easy for them? 

Jae stretches her arms once she reaches the clearing where their cabin is, breathing in the fresh air before she reaches for the string that will lead her to the front steps. Carefully, she walks up the steps and to the front door, knocking three times and waiting 10 seconds before she opens the door, stepping inside and closing it quickly. She can hear the three birds that Mai found years ago singing in the kitchen, and it puts a smile on her face.

“You were gone too long again.” 

Jae jumps, taking off her blindfold and turning around to see Jungkook sitting on a couch in the living room, arms crossed and annoyance clearly written on his face. 

Her eyes widen slightly before she shrugs her shoulders, trying to appear casual. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

Jungkook gives her a look, clearly showing he isn’t taking any of her crap. Jae knew she was going to be in for it when she came back, but it was still worth a shot. She slowly makes her way to the couch, plopping beside him. “I’m sorry,” she whispers quietly. 

Jungkook turns his body to look directly at the girl next to him, eyes shifting from annoyance to concern. “You just worry me Jae. Every time you go out, you’re gone longer than the time before. I know you want to try to find a way for us to get to Busan, but we won’t be able to do that if you die on us.” 

“I know. I just...I miss him,” Jaw says quietly. 

“Who?” 

Jae’s eyes shift upward, looking to where the rest of their group is most likely resting upstairs before responding quietly. “Tae. You know he hasn’t been the same since we ran into that group a year and a half ago. He blames himself for them taking our map, and he blames himself for breaking his promise to Rin’s brother. Every day that goes by, the light in his eyes gets dimmer and dimmer. At some point, they’re just gonna be soulless black holes on his face, with no resemblance of the man he used to be.” 

Jae’s eyes start to tear as she finishes talking, but before she can wipe them away, Jungkook reaches a hand forward and wipes them himself, leaving his hand on her cheek afterward. 

“You care so much. Your love for him, it’s really amazing,” Jungkook says in admiration, grazing his hand over her cheek once last time before putting it on her chin, tilting her head to look at him. “But I also care so much. I care about you, and every time you walk out that door, a part of me goes with you Jae.” 

Jae’ s eyes water more, tears slowly falling down her cheeks as she takes his other hand into hers. “I know. I’ll be safer. I promise.” 

Jungkook looks at her for a moment before deciding to let it go, at least for the time being. “Good.” 

“So...am I forgiven?” Jae asks, a small smile making its way onto her lips. 

Jungkook smiles back, eyes dripping with honey as he takes in the girl in front of him. “Always.” 

Jae’s smile grows until it’s beaming, “Good.”  

Jungkook chuckles before leaning toward her, connecting his lips to hers. Jae hums in delight, smiling into the kiss before reaching her hand into his hair, shifting herself so that she is sitting in his lap. Jae looks directly into his eyes, willing her feelings to show through to him before she kisses him back, which Jungkook responds with just as much fervor. 

Although the past few years have been filled with many more downs than ups, the one good thing that came out of it was them finding each other. They both would deny it for the first year, but after Mai kept pushing Jae and Taehyung kept pushing Jungkook, they sucked it up and confessed to each other. It was fairly easy for them to adjust to their new relationship, considering they basically acted like a couple before their confession anyway. After the first few awkward grazes of the fingers and kisses, they grew accustomed to each other. Jae wasn’t sure if they were, as Tae says, “Soulmates”. All she knew was that he became one of the most important people in her life, and she would do anything to keep him safe and happy. And she was pretty sure he felt the same way. If that makes them soulmates...well then, I guess they are. 

Jae leans into Jungkook more, pressing her lips firmly against his. He places his hands on her hips, fingers inching under her shirt to graze her bare skin. 

Jungkook feels himself losing control, falling under the spell of a girl he’s been gone for, probably since the day he met her. But he can’t let that happen, not until he tells her everything he feels. He pulls his lips away from hers, holding her body in place when she leans forward to continue kissing him. He laughs at the slight whine that comes from Jae, a pout forming on her lips. “I’m sorry, there’s just...there’s something I’ve been wanting to say.” 

Jae leans back, sensing the more serious tone in Jungkook’s voice. “What is it?” 

“I just can’t believe I haven’t said this yet. I mean, it’s just crazy! You would think one of us would have by now but noooooo. I guess both of us are just too stubborn and maybe a little bit in denial but I’m tired of being like that and I know how I feel and what I want to say this to you, so why haven’t I said anything yet? Like seriously? What kind of person just-” 

“Jungkook!” Jae yells, reaching her hand to cover his mouth, stopping him from speaking anymore. “You’re rambling.” 

Jungkook laughs sheepishly, taking her hand off of his mouth to hold in his own. “Sorry, let me just start over. Jae...” 

Jae bites her lip, waiting in anticipation. 

“Jae, I lo-” 

“Oh Jae, you’re back! Sanha! Mai! Jae's come back!” Rin yells from the steps, running down from where she stood to join the two on the couch. 

Jungkook sighs while Jae mouths a silent apology, getting up from his lap to hug her little brother who has just come downstairs. Jungkook just shrugs his shoulders. This is what he gets for waiting so long anyway. 

 

* * *

 

A few hours later, Jae is outside Taehyung’s room, bracing herself before she knocks quietly on the door. A quiet ‘come in’ is heard, and she slips inside. She sees Taehyung, sitting on the edge of the bed, head looking toward the covered window, as if he can see the stars and the moon outside. Jae moves slowly toward the bed, sitting down next to him, though farther than she would have a year ago. The old Taehyung would have loved for her to sit so close that their shoulders are touching. It served as a reminder that even though he can’t see her, she was always there beside him. But now, now it’s just a reminder of the reality that he will never feel Jimin’s shoulder press against his. It was too painful of a thought to put himself through, so he keeps himself at a distance. 

“How can I help you Jae?” Taehyung asks, his mouth set in a straight line, showing no emotion whatsoever. 

Jae takes a breath before turning her body to look at him, inching slightly closer. “Jungkook talked to me today, about how I’ve been going out a lot. He wasn’t very happy.” 

Taehyung nods his head, though his face remains unmoving. “That’s understandable.” 

Jae sighs before continuing. “Do you know why I go out all the time Tae?” 

Taehyung’s body stiffens slightly as his hands form fists on his lap. “I told you not to call me that.” 

Jae gets off of the bed to kneel in front of Taehyung, her body facing him as she covers his fists with her hands. “I miss you, Tae. I miss you so much. Do you realize that?” 

“Please don’t call me that. Only he called me that...” Tae whispers, voices lightly wavering. 

“Taehyung this has to stop! I know you miss Jimin and you feel like you ruined your chances to see him again, and I am so sorry that you have to go through this, but you have to stop blaming yourself! Mistakes happen. Actually, fuck that, this wasn’t even your mistake. Blame the people who tried to kill us! They’re the ones at fault for stealing your map. But it happened, okay? You don’t have it anymore, and you have to accept that so you can move on! Don’t you want to find Jimin again?” 

“Of course I do!” Taehyung yells, showing emotion for the first time in what feels like forever.  

“Then stop being such a baby and suck it up!” Jae yells back, feeling like she’s finally breaking through to him. “Moping around by yourself isn’t going to help us find him. We need you, Taehyung. Rin needs you! You promised her brother that you would keep her safe, and you have so far. But if you keep this act up, who knows what could happen! We can’t afford to not have you be with us, in the moment. It could cost someone their life. So get off your ass and help us!” 

Jae breathes heavily, cheeks red from her sudden outburst. She hadn’t expected the conversation to go this direction. She honestly thought she would end up crying in the man’s arms, as opposed to yelling in his face. But she felt like she had no choice. She’s cried to him before, and it changed nothing. Clearly, she was approaching this situation all wrong. 

She does feel a little regret when she sees tears start to well up in Taehyung’s eyes, and her heart breaks as they fall down his cheeks. 

“Taehyung, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that.” 

Taehyung shakes his head as he wipes the tears off of his cheeks. “No, no you were right to do that. Everything you said, it’s true. I just refused to believe it until now. It’s so much easier to wallow in self-pity and sadness than to become hopeful again.” 

Jae nods her head, standing up to sit beside him, though this time she sits closer so that her shoulder presses against his. A small smile makes its way on to Taehyung’s face, as he interlocks his fingers with hers. 

Taehyung’s thumb rubs small circles on the back of Jae’s hands, his face looking lost in thought. Jae just smiles, letting him have as long as he needs to gather his thoughts. Taehyung continues to hold her hand as his head looks up toward the covered window, looking just as he did when Jae first came into the room. 

“What’s on your mind, Taehyung?” 

“It’s late, isn’t it? So, the moon must be out by now?” Taehyung asks, eyes fixated on the window. Jae hums in agreement, resting her head against his shoulder. 

“Jimin always said that I reminded him of the moon...that I was this bright light in the middle of a vast sea of darkness.” 

“I would have to agree with Jimin,” Jae responds, while Taehyung’s eyebrows raise in question. 

“And why’s that?” he asks. 

Jae just smiles, eyes closing in thought before she answers him. “”The moon is a loyal companion. It never leaves. It’s always there, watching, steadfast, knowing us in our light and dark moments, changing forever just as we do. Every day it’s a different version of itself. Sometimes weak and wan, sometimes strong and full of light. The moon understands what it means to be human. Uncertain. Alone. Cratered by imperfections.” Tahereh Mafi,” Jae says confidently. 

Taehyung’s mouth drops open in surprise, while Jae laughs and leans further into him. “You’re not the only one who knows quotes, Kim Taehyung.” 

Taehyung laughs in response, shaking his head. “I was thinking it was more along the thoughts of Mark Twain, who said ‘Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.’But thank you, what you said is very sweet.” 

Taehyung squeezes her hand in affection before continuing his thoughts from earlier. “When Jimin told me I was his moon, I told him that he was my sun. See, people think the moon is the most beautiful thing about the sky, and it really is magnificent, at least, the description that has been told to me is. It’s big and bright and ever-changing, whether it be its shape or it’s color, the moon always seems to gather attention. But the sun...that is truly a wonder. People take advantage of the sun, I think. They don’t appreciate its beauty, too busy entranced in their day to day lives. Always looking down, never looking up. Even though I’m blind, I feel like I can see the sun when its warmth kisses my cheek. That’s why Jimin is my sun. Because, for the first time in my entire life, he made me feel like I can see. So now that he isn’t with me, all I long to do is go outside and feel the warmth of the sun on my skin, because that’s how it feels when Jimin kisses me. Pure warmth.” 

Jae doesn’t even bother wiping the tears that are flowing down her face. She just nestles her head in the crook of Taehyung’s neck. 

A small smile makes its way onto Taehyung’s lips, as a tear rolls down his cheek as well. “I always told Jimin that if we were to ever get separated, or something were to happen to me, to always remember that when the moon rises in the sky, I am watching over him. But... he can’t look outside to see the moon Jae. He can’t look outside to see that I am watching over him.” 

Taehyung’s voice breaks at the end, as sobs begin to ripple from his throat. For the first time since she came in his room, he tears his eyes away from the window to look at Jae, and her heart immediately begins to break at the sight of the broken man next to her. 

She gathers him in her arms, letting him sob into her chest as she rubs his arms. “I have never met Jimin. I couldn’t pick him out of a line-up. But if he is anything like you describe him to be, then I bet he’s been doing what you’ve been doing Taehyung. I would bet my life that he’s looking through a covered window, imagining the moon watching over him in the sky. Imagining you.” 

Taehyung lets her words sink in as he gathers himself, wiping the tears from his face as he sits up. “Tae, please call me Tae. Jimin would want you to call me Tae.” 

“Ok...Tae,” Jae responds, smiling as she hugs him. They sit again, side by side with Jae’s head resting on his shoulders, looking toward the window. Neither of them say another word, just letting the moment last while it can. 

After a half hour of complete silence, a frantic knock is heard on Tae’s door. Taehyung lets whoever is knocking know that it’s ok to come in, and immediately Mai throws the door open. 

“Mia, what’s wrong?” Jae asks, standing up from the bed as she takes in the look on her sisters’ face. 

“Jungkook, he’s gone.” 

“What?!?” Both Jae and Tae yell, as Tae stands up to stand next to her. 

Mai just shakes her head in confusion. “I don’t know. He said he was gonna work on something in the basement for a while, and that was like 2 hours ago. When I noticed that he still hadn’t come upstairs, I went down to check on him, and he was gone!” 

Right as Mai finishes talking, three knocks are heard on the front door. All three of them look to each other before racing downstairs, running into the living room right as Jungkook closes the door behind him, taking his blindfold off. 

“Where the hell were you?” Mai yells, taking Jungkook by surprise. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t think you would notice that I was gone...” Jungkook responds, shrugging his shoulders. Mai just yells more at him, in complete disbelief. Tae tries to calm the woman down to no avail, while Jae runs up to Jungkook and hits him on the arm. 

“Ow!” Jungkook yells, rubbing the spot where her fist just was. 

“What is wrong with you? Sneaking off like that? And after you just gave me a lecture. Are you crazy?!?” 

Jungkook holds Jae’s arms down, a smile working its way onto his face. “I know, and I’m sorry. I’m a big, fat hypocrite and you can hate me all you want. But after seeing you earlier, I just wanted to help, but I didn’t want to put you in danger, so I thought I would just go out on my own.” 

Jae rolls her eyes, pushing his hands off of her. “Is this some kind of twisted reverse psychology? Trying to make me feel bad for going on my own by doing the same thing? Cause if so, then it worked. I’m pissed. Are you happy now?” 

Jungkook just bites his lip, trying to stop a laugh from leaving his mouth as the girl rants in front of him. As she yells, he slips his bag off of his shoulders, reaching down to pull something out of it. 

Jae stops mid-rant as she seems him pull a walkie-talkie out of his bag, her eyes widening in disbelief. “Is that...?” 

“Yup, the answer to our problems! Well...some of them at least. I made it out of the forest, a couple miles south, and found what I think was an old convenience store. Low and behold, I found this behind the counter.” Jungkook’s face fills with a beaming smile as he walks over to Taehyung, reaching forward to put the walkie-talkie in his hands. 

Taehyung lets his fingers run over the device, quickly figuring out what it is before tilting his head in confusion. “How is this supposed to help us, exactly?” 

Jungkook just smiles, reaching over to turn the walkie-talkie on, extending the antennae at the top. Static fills the room for a moment before Jungkook presses down a button and tells Taehyung to say something. 

“Ummm, hello?” Taehyung asks timidly, not really understanding the point of this. No response is heard, just further static, and Jungkook presses down the button again, telling Taehyung to be louder. 

Taehyung rolls his head around before clearing his throat, hoping to sound more confident this time around. “Hello? Is anybody there?” 

Static is heard again before a few beeps are heard, and a deep voice fills the room. “Hello? This is Kim Namjoon. Can you hear me?” 

Mai and Jae’s mouth drops in shock as they both rush over to stand near the two men. 

“Yes, yes I can hear you!” Taehyung says ecstatically, somewhat frozen in a state of disbelief. 

“Namjoon, it’s me again, Jungkook. The one you spoke to just a bit ago. I have made it home to the rest of my group,” Jungkook responds. 

“Have you told them the news yet?” The man named Namjoon asks. 

“No, no I was hoping they could hear it straight from you,” Jungkook responds. 

A slight chuckle can be heard from the walkie-talkie before Namjoon continues talking. 

“My name is Kim Namjoon, and I am the leader of a safe school located in Busan.” 

Jae gasps, looking to Jungkook in disbelief. He just laughs, hugging her tightly as Mai jumps and claps her hands in joy. 

Taehyung remains frozen, eyes wide as he stays fixated on the walkie-talkie, not having the energy to express exactly how he feels. 

“Jungkook told me about your journey, and how one of you mentioned a safe school in Busan. We are that school. And with my knowledge of the terrain, I am confident that I can guide you here, where you may live the rest of your days in peace until this monster is stopped.” Namjoon says, pride evident in his tone. 

Everyone rejoices, hugging each other as tears threaten to leave their eyes. Jae walks over to Taehyung, crying as she hugs him tightly. 

“Jimin...” Taehyung says, still in shock. 

Jae beams at him, shaking his shoulders to try to wake him up from whatever state he was in. “That’s right Tae, we’re taking you to Jimin. We’re taking you home.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on my new twitter to receive updates on this fic, along with ideas for other fics I might write!  
> https://twitter.com/SerendipitousVM


	8. Hello!

June 17th, 2017

 

“Mai, how much longer are we gonna be walking?” Sanha asks, hand clasped tightly in the woman’s grip. He sticks a finger through one of the holes on the box tied to his chest, checking on the three birds that rest inside.

“Just a bit longer Sanha. Hold out for just a bit longer. We’ll take a break soon, okay?” Mai answers, though she’s not sure how truthful her statement is. 

They have been walking blindly through the forest for days, trying to hear any signs of a river near them. They walk one by one, with each person holding on to the hand of the person behind them. Taehyung leads, with him used to walking without his sight. He also pointed out that his hearing is far better than everyone else’s, so hopefully he will be able to hear the river first. Behind him is Rin, who refused to not hold Taehyung’s hand. Mai volunteered to be behind Rin, thinking it best that an adult be in-between the two children, even though both Sanha and Rin exclaim that they are 7 years old now, so they aren’t kids anymore. Sanha comes behind Mai, with Jae behind him. Both of the women wanted to always be aware that their little brother is safe, so it made sense to put him between them. And coming up in the rear is Jungkook, who knew that it was one of the most vulnerable positions to be in, considering their situation. He didn’t want anyone else in this spot but him. 

It wasn’t too bad so far, the group having been somewhat used to walking around without their sight for the past few years. It’s gotten harder to maneuver the past couple of days, however, as it seems that the closer they get to the river, the more roots and brush they have to try to avoid. But they keep going, knowing that they are at least going in the right direction, thanks to Kim Namjoon. 

 

 _“The_ _Nakdong_ _river, that is your next goal.” the group hears Kim Namjoon say through the walkie-talkie. The group has packed all of their essentials, with it all divvied up into backpacks that everyone carries. They are now listening to Namjoon, trusting his guidance to get them to the safe school._  

 _“Ok, how do we get to the river?” Jungkook asks, pencil in hand ready to write down whatever they might need to remember._  

 _“Based on what you told me about where you guys are now, I think it’s safe to assume you are in the southern part of Daegu, which leaves you about 90 miles from Busan, give or take. Some of this will have to be walked on foot, but thankfully, you can do a majority of the travel on the_ _Nakdong_ _river. It’s a longer route to get here, making the journey closer to 200 miles, but it’s obviously a lot quicker than walking. It will lead you right to the school. You’ll have to walk about 4_ _days worth_ _south before you reach the river.”_  

 _“That doesn’t seem too bad,” Mai comments in a surprising tone._  

 _Namjoon sighs before responding, “Please, don’t take the river lightly. You are looking at spending over 36 hours on this river. If you had an actually motor boat, or even one with a sail, you could get there in half the time, but your only resources are what are_ _gonna_ _be available to you in the area. You’ll be lucky if you can even find a canoe. That means you can only travel as fast as the river flows, which is on average about 3-4 miles per hour. It’s going to be long, slow, and boring. Your body will cramp up from staying still for so long. And not only that, but you will have to traverse through very intense rapids toward the end. Your life will be in danger.”_  

 _Mai gulps before taking hold of her sister’s hand, who rubs circles with her thum_ _b_ _over_ _Mai’s_ _palm._  

 _“Wait, so we’re expected to go through rapids on a river without being able to see?” Jungkook asks in disbelief._  

 _“Unfortunately, yes. But at least you don’t have any elderly or children. That would make the journey much more difficult.”_  

 _“Right...” Jungkook responds, head dropping in his hands._  

 _Silence is heard for a moment before Namjoon hums in thought. “You could do one thing to up your chances. It’s risky, extremely risky, not just for the person doing it, but for everyone involved. But it could be the difference between arriving safely or not.”_  

 _“And what’s that?” Taehyung asks skeptically._  

 _“Someone looks. They take their blindfold off and they guide the boat in the right direction, making sure they avoid steep drop_ _s_ _and rocks throughout the rapids.”_  

 _“But...how can we do that? Without...you know...seeing whatever is out there?” Jae asks timidly._  

 _“That thing, whatever it is, it isn’t everywhere all the time. I have encountered people who have been outside, and been in a situation where they had to take their blindfold off. Fortunately, they seemed to not encounter it while they did, and they were able to put theirs on back in time before it got anywhere near them._ _But,_ _there is no guaranty. I told you it was a risk.”_  

 _The group looks at each other, questions swimming in their eyes._  

 _Jungkook shakes his head before clapping his hands as he stands up. “We’ll worry about that later. Right now, let’s focus on getting ready to leave.”_  

 _“Good luck, my friends. I sincerely hope you make it here unharmed. Stay safe,” Namjoon ends before static is heard, and Jungkook reaches over to turn the walkie-talkie off._  

 

That was 3 days ago, and since then they have been walking through the forest, trying to reach the river. They lucked out the first night, happening upon another cabin they could rest in, but the last two nights have seen them sleeping outside, hoping no animal or group will happen upon them. Saying it has been scary for them is an understatement, considering they haven’t taken their blindfolds off basically since they left for the river, but they were willing to do whatever it takes to get to a safe place. 

“What are you thinking Jungkook? Should we start looking for a place to stop for the night?” Jae asks quietly, not wanting to attract attention from anything that might be near their group. 

“Hmm, maybe. It’s probably getting close to sunset soon. And I’m sure the kids are pretty tired,” Jungkook responds, giving Jae’s hands three squeezes. Knowing what that means, Jae squeezes Sanha’s hands, who in turn does the same to Mai, until Taehyung feels his hands being squeezed three times. Knowing this was their signal to stop, Taehyung stops walking, turning around to face the direction of the rest of the group. 

“I’m guessing we’re stopping?” Tae asks quietly, which Jungkook hums in agreement. 

“I’ll try to find a place near-by. If not, then we’ll just have to camp out again,” Jungkook says, reaching in his backpack to pull out their string. He gives one end to Jae, making sure she has a tight grip on it. 

“Be careful,” Jae whispers, blindly reaches for his hand before leaning forward, aiming to kiss his lips. She misses the first time, kissing him on his chin, but she finds his lips pretty quickly, soaking up the feeling he brings her before stepping back. 

“Always,” Jungkook replies while walking away, letting the string roll out beside him as he moves away from the group. 

 

* * *

 

 

30 minutes later and Jae feels three tugs from the other end of the string. 

“Jungkook found a place we can rest for the night. Let’s go,” Jae says as she stands up from the ground, pulling Sanha up with her. 

Jae leads the group through the forest, letting the string guide her to Jungkook. About 15 minutes later, Jae feels the string tied up to what she can only assume is a railing for stairs. She unties the string from the railing, warning everyone about the steps in front of them. Once she reaches the door, she knocks three times, opening once she hears Jungkook call from inside. 

It’s not the biggest cabin that they have encountered on their journey. It’s more like a shack to be honest. But anything is better than sleeping outside, vulnerable to the wind and whatever is lurking out there. The group uses the pillows and blankets around the shack to create makeshift beds, with everyone sleeping in the same room. 

“Tomorrow will be day 4 since we’ve started heading to the river,” Mai whispers, not wanting to wake the two kids sleeping near the rest of the group. 

“Finally, it feels like we’ve been walking forever,” Tae sighs, stretching his arms before he covers himself with a blanket. 

Jae makes sure Sanha and Rin are sleeping before she turns to the rest. “Shouldn’t we talk about what Namjoon mentioned to us?” 

“What are you talking about?” Mai asks tiredly. 

“The river...he said someone might need to look. I just think we should talk about it now instead of right as we hit the rapids.” 

“We don’t need to talk. I’m looking,” Jungkook says eyes closed as he tries to fall asleep. 

Jae sits up, eyeing the man next to her. “Are you serious right now? You can’t just make a decision like that without consulting the rest of us!” 

“Shhh,” Tae whispers, gesturing to the area where the kids are sleeping. 

“Sorry,” Jae apologizes before continuing. “Jungkook, we need to talk about this.” 

“I told you there’s nothing to talk about. I am looking.” Jungkook whispers angrily, opening his eyes to briefly look at Jae before closing them again. 

“Jae...maybe we should wait until the morning to talk about this,” Mai says, trying to get her sister to lay back down. 

Jae shrugs out of her sisters’ arms, shoving Jungkook lightly. “And why are you the one who has to look, huh?” 

“Because I’m not risking your life, and I’m not risking Mai’s. I’m volunteering myself so just drop it, ok?” Jungkook huffs, turning so his back is facing her. Jae looks at him in disbelief, her eyes watering before she lays down, turning away from him as well. 

“Uhhh...good night,” Tae says timidly, while Mai pulls her sister into her arms. 

 

* * *

 

 

6 hours later and Jae feels her body being shaken gently. She rubs at her eyes briefly before opening them, seeing her sister standing above her. 

“Time to wake up,” Mai says gently, offering her a small smile before she walks away. 

Jae looks around the room, realizing that she was the last one to wake up. Which makes sense, considering she was probably the last one to fall asleep last night. She stands up, working quickly to pack up the things they will need for the rest of the trip. The group has to pack lighter, due to the fact that they will hopefully be on a boat by the end of the day. 

Mai helps the kids pack their bags, while Jungkook helps Taehyung pack his. Jae looks at Jungkook briefly, but once she realizes that he is avoiding any and all eye contact with her, she gives up will a roll of her eyes. 

Everyone is finishing up gathering their belongings when Taehyung suddenly freezes, his head perking up. 

“You ok?” Mai asks, resting her hand on his arm. Taehyung just simply puts his finger to his lips, signaling for everyone to be quiet. He slowly walks towards the back door, leaning his head up against it. After a moment, he quickly turns around, his eyes wide. 

“There’s someone out there,” Tae whispers, leaning his head against the door to try to hear more. 

Everyone gets quiet, including the kids, who understand how serious the situation is. 

“He’s close, really close. I think he’s saying to come outside...” Tae says, eyes still wide in fear. 

“Shit, he must’ve seen us find this place,” Jungkook mutters, hands tightening into fists. 

“What do we do?” Mai asks, holding both children tight to her, trying to calm them down. 

“I distract him, and you guys get out of here,” Tae says confidently, turning to face the group. 

“Tae, this isn’t the time to play hero!” Jae yells, partly from frustration but mostly because she’s scared. 

“I’m not trying to play hero, Jae!” Tae yells back. “I’ll go outside and talk to him. If he doesn’t appear to be a threat, then we’ll be ok. But if he is, then I’ll distract while you guys run the opposite direction. And if he tries something then I’ll have the best luck on my own out there. I’m the one who is most used to walking around without their sight. I can find my way back to you guys!” 

“No way in hell, I won’t allow you to do that,” Jungkook says, stepping up to Taehyung. 

“Finally, you say something that makes sense,” Jae sighs, running her hand through her hair. 

“You didn’t let me finish. I won’t allow you to do that alone. I’m going with you, Tae.” 

Jae groans, turning to look at Jungkook with a wild look in her eyes. “Seriously, this again? When will you stop sacrificing yourself, huh?” 

Jungkook remains calm, slowly walking up to her. “Jae, just stop and think for a moment. We need to get Sanha and Rin to safety, and the best way to do that is to distract whoever is out there. And you wouldn’t want Tae to do that alone, would you?” 

Jae looks briefly at Taehyung before turning back to look at Jungkook, eyes reading desperation. “There has to be another way.” 

Jungkook just shakes his head. “There isn’t. And we have to go now, before he can get any closer and realize how many of us are in here. That is, if he didn’t already see all of us yesterday.” 

Jae looks down, tears pooling in the corner of her eyes. She takes a breath, wiping at them before looking up again. “Yeah, ok. Fine.” 

Jungkook nods before turning around to look back at Taehyung. “You ready Tae?” 

Taehyung nods, walking over to say a brief goodbye to Mai and Sanha, hugging them both as tightly as he can. He then bends down to face Rin. 

“I don’t want you to go...” Rin mumbles, tears falling down her cheeks. Tae wipes them with his hands before pulling her into a hug, holding her close to him. 

“I’ll be ok. No matter what happens, always know that I am ok. And when you guys make it to the school, which I know you will, please give a big hug to Yoongi and Jimin for me. Make sure the hug for Jimin is extra tight, yeah?” 

Rin simply nods, wrapping her arms around his neck. Meanwhile Jungkook and Jae are facing each other, not having said a word since Taehyung started his goodbyes. 

“I don’t...I don’t know what to say...” Jae sighs, looking up to see Jungkook looking at Taehyung and Rin. 

“I’m not doing what Tae is doing right now. I’m not saying goodbye. This isn’t goodbye.” Jungkook says definitely, turning his head to look into Jae’s eyes. 

“You don’t know that...and after last night... There’s just so much we still have to say,” Jae whispers reaching for his hand. 

Jungkook squeezes her hand once before dropping it, letting it fall back to her side. “We’ll say it later. I have to go.” 

Jungkook walks over to the rest of the group, giving a hug to Mai and the kids while Jae looks sadly from the side. Mai and the kids join Jae where she stands while Jungkook and Taehyung walk to the door, pausing briefly to let Jungkook put on his blindfold. Once he has it on, the rest of the group covers their eyes as Taehyung opens the door, letting him and Jungkook step outside before closing it just as quickly. 

Taehyung pauses once they take a few steps outside, listening for the man he had heard earlier.  

“I think he’s this way,” Taehyung whispers, shifting his head toward the direction he was referring to. 

“Ok, let’s go.” Jungkook whispers back, grabbing onto Taehyung’s hand and letting him guide the way. They walk about 20 yards before a yell is heard in the distance to their right. They both turn their heads, hearing leaves crunching under someone’s footsteps. 

They hear heavy breathing coming closer to them, as if the person is jogging or running toward their direction. 

“Hello, neighbor!” They hear a man yell, coming to stop a few feet away from them. 

“Hello...” Jungkook says timidly, never letting go of Taehyung’s hand. 

“I couldn’t help but notice that you guys took shelter in my old neighbor’s shack, so I just wanted to officially greet you to the neighborhood!” The man says cheerfully. 

“Umm...thank you?” Jungkook replies, but he immediately tenses up upon feeling Taehyung’s hand squeeze his tighter. 

“How did you know where we were just now? You ran up to us as if you can see,” Taehyung says defensively. 

The man laughs, though Jungkook can’t help but feel a shiver run down his spine when he hears it. 

“You’re a clever one, that you are. Why don’t you open your eyes and have your friend take his blindfold off. You are safe to see here.” 

“No thank you. We would rather not,” Jungkook says, taking a step back and pulling Taehyung with him. 

“C’mon, you can trust me. Just take it off and we can have a nice chat, huh?” The man asks, taking a step toward them. 

“We said no,” Taehyung says, backing up further. He then tenses up, hearing the man reach into what sounds like a bag. 

“Fine then. Have it your way.” 

Taehyung hears the click of a gun being loaded before he spins around. ”Jungkook, run!” 

 

* * *

 

 

Back at the shack, Mai is still trying to comfort the kids, while Jae paces around the room. 

“Jae, you need to calm down,” Mai says gently, trying to help her sister relax. 

“If the person was safe, they would’ve come back by now. They’re not back, Mai. What do we do?!?” Jae yells, which causes both Sanha and Rin to start crying. 

“Jae, seriously, you need to relax! None of us are going to make it out alive if you start freaking out on us!” Mai yells, standing up and walking to her sister. 

Jae takes in her brother and Rin crying before letting out a sigh, stepping into her sisters’ arms. 

“He didn’t even hug me goodbye. Not a kiss. Nothing...” Jae mumbles into her sisters’ shoulders. 

“It’ll be ok. Just breathe,” Mai whispers, wrapping her arms around Jae and rubbing her back. Right as she finishes speaking, a single gunshot is heard outside, followed by a yell of someone in pain. 

Everyone lifts their heads up, eyes growing wide as they realize what just happened. 

“Shit...everyone, grab your stuff. We have to go!” Mai yells, running to the kids to help them put on their backpacks. 

“Jungkook...Tae...” Jae whispers, tears filling her eyes. 

“Jae, get your stuff. Now!” Mai demands, as she zips up her own backpack. Jae numbly walks to where her stuff rests on a chair, slowly zipping it up and putting it on her back. Right as Mai goes to help the kids put on their blindfolds, two knocks are heard on the front door. 

Everyone freezes, looking toward the door that is opposite of the door Taehyung and Jungkook just left out of. 

“That was only two knocks...not three...” Jae whispers, slowly walking toward the rest of the group. 

No one responds, too in a state of shock and fear to acknowledge what Jae said. Nobody dares to move, not wanting to draw the attention of whoever is outside. 

A few moments pass in silence, before Mai turns to look at Jae next to her. “Maybe they’re gone?” 

Jae’s response is cut off by two more knocks being heard, followed by a rough voice that definitely doesn’t belong to Jungkook or Taehyung. 

“Hello! Anybody home?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on my new twitter to receive updates on this fic, along with ideas for other fics I might write!  
> https://twitter.com/SerendipitousVM


	9. Come out, come out, wherever you are

June 18th, 2017 

 

“Hello! Anybody home?” 

“That isn’t Jungkook or Tae...” Jae whispers, backing away from the front door. The group becomes paralyzed in fear, not knowing what to do next. It isn’t until the door knob rattles and someone starts pounding on it that Mai and Jae start to move. 

“Fuck, everybody hide!” Mai whispers, pulling the two children down the hallway to a room in the back. Jae quickly follows behind, closing the door to the room behind her. 

“But, the birds! They’re still in the kitchen!” Sanha yells, starting to walk towards the door. Mai immediately pulls him back towards her. 

“We don’t have time. The birds will be fine.” 

“Rin, Sanha, get in the closet! Hide under some clothes, okay?” Jae says, pushing them towards the closet in the corner of the room. The pounding on the front door only appears to become louder, as if someone is throwing their entire body into it. The kids quickly duck inside the closet, silently crying as Jae closes the door on them. 

“You still have the knife in your backpack, right?” Mai asks while she reaches into her own. Jae nods, quickly opening up her bag and pulling out her own knife.  

“Where are you hiding?” Jae asks, looking around the room for a place. Before Mai can respond, a loud bang resounds through the house, and the front door falls off of its hinges. 

“I’ll go in the bathroom, get under the bed now!” Mai whispers, running into the bathroom as Jae slides under the bed as quickly as she can. 

It is silent for a few minutes, with nothing being heard except for the wind blowing outside. Jae tightly grips the knife in her hand, preparing herself to use it at any moment. After another minute, steps are heard throughout the shack. Jae holds in a groan of frustration after she hears what definitely sounds like at least three people walking around.  

So far, they haven’t yet reached the room they were in. But just as Jae thinks this, the door to their room opens, and Jae sees a pair of feet walk inside from her place under the bed. The shoes definitely belong to a man, but other than that, she can’t see a thing. 

The man whistles, swinging what looks like some sort of machete as he walks around the room. 

“I know you have to be around here somewhere,” the man says sweetly, dragging the machete across the top of the dresser as he walks by it. 

Jae covers her mouth to hold in her cries as she sees his feet stop in front of the bed. Beads of sweat drop from her forehead as her body starts to panic, shaking in fear of her inevitable death. 

“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” The man sings as he starts to bend down. Right before he can look under the bed, a muffled cry is heard from inside the closet. 

“Oh?” The man says, straightening up and turning toward the sound. Jae curses in her head, willing the man to turn back to her. 

He doesn’t, going straight for the closet, putting both hands on the knobs of the doors. 

Before Jae can even think of sliding out from under the bed, Mai swings the bathroom door open, running to the man from behind. She covers his mouth with her hand, slicing his throat with her knife before he can say another word. Blood starts to flow from the opening in his neck, and the man coughs a couple times before dropping to the floor. 

All Jae sees from under the bed is the man once his body hits the ground, his head facing toward her. He takes her in, smiling slightly. 

“You will open your eyes one day. We will make sure of it...you will see...” The man whispers, one last breath escaping his lips as his eyes close for good, his blood staining the floor around him. 

Jae feels a shiver run down her body from his words, tears pooling in the corner of her eyes. 

“Mai...” Jae chokes out, sliding out from under the bed to check on her sister. 

“I’m fine,” Mai whispers back, though her eyes read differently. It hits Jae hard in that moment, how awful and cruel this world is. Her sister is not a killer. She’s too nice to even hurt a fly, but she just became one in an instant. All to protect her family. 

“How many others do you think are left?” Mai asks, wiping her knife on the clothes of the man she just killed. 

Jae shakes her head, gathering herself before she responds. “I’m not sure...but I think I heard two others.” 

Mai nods her head, seeming to agree with her. “We won’t be able to catch them by surprise like we did this guy. Once they come in here and see his body, it’s over. We’re gonna have to go on the offensive.” 

Jae is taken aback, never having heard her sister talk like this before. She sounds...not human, like a robot. It creates an unsettling feeling in the pit of Jae’s stomach, but she nods her head anyway.  

“But this time I’m helping. You’re not gonna do this alone.” 

Mai hums in agreement before walking to the closet, crouching down in front of it. “Sanha, Rin... Jae and I are going to go and make sure everything is safe. I need you to promise me that you won’t leave this closet unless either myself or Jae tell you it’s ok to come out. Alright?” 

“Ok, I promise,” Rin says through a couple of sniffles. 

“Sanha, can you promise me that?” 

Nothing is heard for a moment, until a quiet voice stutters through the closet, “P-Please...be safe. I...I can’t lose you both t-too...” 

Jae’s heart breaks as she bends down next to Mai, putting her hand on the closet door. 

“We love you Sanha. So much. And you too Rin. We’ll come back for you, just hold tight.” 

“Love you too...” both children say at the same time, muffling their cries by covering their mouths with their hands. 

Mai looks to Jae briefly before standing up, pulling her sister up with her. “Let’s go.” 

They both tiptoe carefully towards the door, stopping just outside the threshold before Mai peeks her head through. The hallway is empty, and she can just make out some noises from the kitchen as she listens carefully. She steps out into the hallway, her sister right on her trail. 

“Hey Myung-soo, have you seen Chanwoo anywhere?” A woman yells from the kitchen to a man outside. 

“Nope, last I saw he was going in some room in the back. I came outside after that.” The man replies. 

“What the hell is taking him so long,” the woman mutters, browsing through the cabinets in the kitchen. The woman stops once she hears a few chirps come from a box on the counter, and she peeks through one of the holes to look inside. The birds start to become louder, the box shaking as they fidget on the inside when the woman gets closer to them. 

“Hmm, they have birds. They must be pretty smart,” The woman comments, leaving the box on the counter to continue looking through cabinets. 

Mia and Jae wait in the hallway around the corner, briefly peeking in the kitchen to see where the woman is. 

Mai motions for Jae to follow her, putting her finger up to her lip to make sure she stays quiet. Jae nods, holding her knife in front of her in defense. 

Mai quietly steps into the kitchen, holding her breath as she walks up to the woman from behind. She covers the woman’s mouth just like she did to the man earlier, but before she can do any harm to her, the woman elbows her in the ribs, causing Mai to fall to the floor. Jae jumps in quickly, tackling the woman to the ground. 

“Get off of me, bitch!” The woman yells, arms flailing as she tries to push Jae off. Jae remains strong, punching her in the face and pinning her arms down. 

“Myung-soo! Help m-” The woman’s screams are cut off once Jae stabs her in the chest. A cry escapes from her throat as she looks down to see the knife protruding from her body. She coughs and blood gurgles out of her mouth, her eyes glazing over as her head falls limp to the ground. 

Jae feels a shift within her, knowing she will never be the same after doing what she had just done. But she doesn’t have time to worry about that, not now. 

Jae breathes heavily, gassed out from the wrestling match the two just went through. Before she can even catch her breath, a man’s voice comes from a few feet away. 

“I would start paying more attention if I were you.” 

Jae’s head quickly turns toward the voice, and a gasp escapes her lips as she takes in what’s next to her. A man not much older than her is standing in the kitchen, holding up her sister by her hair with a knife to her throat. Tears are falling from Mai’s eyes as she looks back at Jae, whispering an apology to her. 

“Let her go,” Jae says determinedly, standing up and facing the two. 

“Now, why would I do that, when you just killed my dear friend?” The man asks, tilting his head at her. 

“She left me...no choice...” Jae says between taking deep breaths, still trying to regain her strength. 

“There’s always a choice, my friend. We didn’t want to kill you. Or your two friends outside. Hee-chul didn’t want to kill them either.” 

Jae’s eyes widen after hearing his words, the tears that pooled from earlier finally escaping her eyes and falling down her cheeks. 

“He didn’t...he couldn’t of...they’re not dead...” 

The man the woman called Myung-soo shrugs his shoulders, “I mean, I wasn’t there, so I can’t say for sure. But you must’ve heard the gunshot earlier. And unless either of your friends had a gun, I doubt they were the ones shooting it.” 

Jae trembles where she stands, trying not to let Myung-soo get to her. But hearing that two people that she loves so dearly are probably dead, it’s just too much for her to take. 

“And their lives, they could’ve been saved. All you had to do was choose to see.” 

 _You will open your eyes one day. We will make sure of it...you will see..._  

“What do you mean? See what?” Jae demands, voice screaming in frustration. 

“The light,” Myung-soo responds, an eerie smile making its way on to his face as he starts to walk toward the nearest window, dragging Mai along with him. 

Jae runs towards him, but he just throws Mai into her, causing them both to fall on the ground. He draws the curtains to the window open, sunlight pouring through into the room as he laughs maniacally. 

“No!” Jae yells, covering her eyes with her hands. She hears Mai yell in anger, and she hears a body being slammed against the window, cracking the glass. 

She doesn’t know what happens next, all she hears is what sounds like a gasp, Myung-soo's laughter stopping and a thud following soon after. 

She hears who she assumes to be Mai walking slowly, dragging her feet along the floor. 

“...Mai?” Jae questions, slowly standing up on her feet. 

She doesn’t get a response. All she hears is the curtains moving again. She can tell they are being closed, as the sunlight that was peeking through her fingers starts to fade away until it’s dark again. Hoping it’s safe, she slowly opens her eyes, blinking them a couple times before looking in front of her. 

She sees the man, Myung-soo, lying on the ground, his mouth set in a permanent smile, as if he died laughing. She gulps before turning to look toward the window. She sees her sister standing in front of it, her back facing her. Mai is shaking, her hands gripping the window sill. 

‘Mai?” Jae asks again, coming up to stand behind her, putting a hand on her shoulder. 

“I’m so sorry...but I had to save you...” Mai whispers, slowly turning around to face Jae. 

What Jae sees makes her stomach drop, a sob threatening to come out of her. Mai’s eyes are wide and red, as if she has seen her greatest fear. They look just like their mother and fathers did, right before they killed themselves. 

“No...” Jae chokes out, her hand covering her mouth as tears fall down her cheeks. 

Mai’s mouth lifts in a small smile before turning to a grimace once again, a grunt of pain escaping from her lips. 

“I can’t...I can’t hold out any longer...I’m so sorry Jae...” 

“No no no no no n-” Jae’s words are cut off as she witnesses her older sister lift up her hand, slicing her own throat open with her knife. 

Jae lets out a blood-curdling scream as Mai falls forward into her arms. Jae falls to her knees, bringing her sister with her, as blood starts to soak into the front of her shirt. 

The room becomes silent, only the heavy breathing of Jae being heard. She doesn’t move, trying to convince herself that this is all just a bad dream. She must still be asleep. Any minute now her sister will be waking her up, and the group will start to head to the river as planned. She refuses to look down at her sister, but she knows she has to eventually. 

She takes in a breath before tilting her head downward, taking in her sister, dead in her arms. Jae lets out a sob, seeing her sister stare back at her with unmoving eyes. 

“Mai...Mai wake up...please wake up...” Jae whispers, shaking her sister gently. Mai doesn’t respond, her body only moving when Jae shakes it. More sobs come out of Jae as she brings her sister to her chest, rocking back and forth as she cries into Mai’s shoulder. 

She doesn’t know how much time passes. All she knows is that her eyes are starting to hurt from crying so much, and her hands are cramping from holding the back of Mai’s shirt so tightly. She lets go eventually, laying her sister on the ground. She reaches toward her, gently closing Mai’s eyes so she looks like she’s sleeping. Jae can’t handle seeing lifeless eyes looking back at her. 

Within the span of 30 minutes, Jae lost three of the most important people in her life. She feels numb as she sits next to her sister’s body, eyes looking at nothing, just the wall facing opposite of her. She forgets to check if anyone else is lurking around. She forgets about her brother and Rin still sitting in the closet. She just sits, feeling as lifeless as the people laying on the ground around her. 

She stopped crying a few minutes ago, now the tears she shed before leave trails on her cheeks.  She thinks about what she could’ve done differently. Not just to save her sister, but everyone else she’s lost since all of this shit started. Jungkook’s brother, Lin, Si-hyuk and his wife. Her parents, god her mom and dad didn’t deserve to die the way they did. And her mom’s poor baby, she never even got a chance to try and survive this world. 

She thinks about the last thing she said to each of them, but she stops doing that once she realizes that she can’t remember. She treated every day too carefree, not taking a moment to cherish everyone that was around her. 

She thinks about Tae’s boxy smile, and Jungkook’s bunny teeth. She thinks about how she never got to tell Jungkook how she feels. How their last moments together were spent arguing. That is the nail in the coffin for her. 

She looks down, eyeing the knife lying beside her. She grabs hold of its handle, lifting it in front of her. It would be so easy, leaving this world. Who would want to live it in anyway? She could do it, with the way she’s feeling right now. She was about to, until she heard a cry coming from the room in the back. 

She drops the knife, willing all the thoughts that were just in her head to go away as she picks herself up, dragging her body to where her brother and Rin are. It takes longer than normal, all her energy seeming to have evaporated into thin air, but she makes it there, springing the door of the closet open. Sanha and Rin look up from where they are sitting on the ground, holding on to each other for dear life. She falls to her knees in front of them, and they crawl into her arms, crying into her chest. 

“M-Mai...she didn’t make it...did she?” Sanha cries, crying even harder when Jae shakes her head. She just pulls them closer to her, using the last of her strength to comfort the only family she has left. 

 

* * *

 

It takes them hours to stop crying, and another hour to get up off of the floor, accepting that they can’t stay there forever. Jae doesn’t let them in the kitchen, volunteering herself to go there instead. She avoids looking at the ground, going straight to the counter to grab the box that the birds are in. When she comes back into the room the kids are waiting in, she sees Rin holding the machete the man was holding earlier. 

“I thought this might be better than that knife you have,” Rin mumbles, holding the machete out for Jae to take. Jae hands the box with the birds to Sanha, taking the machete from Rin afterward, and putting it in the place her knife once used to take.  

“What about Kookie and Tae? They might still be out there,” Sanha says, looking toward the back door. 

“We’ll wait for them,” Jae decides, putting her arm around Sanha’s shoulders. “We’ll wait to see if they come back. I can’t risk us going out to look for them, not when there could be someone else out there. But we can’t wait long.” 

“But we can’t just leave them!” Rin argues. 

Jae walks to the girl, kneeling in front of her. “They might not be able to find their way back to us, Rinnie. If they realize that they can’t then they will go to the school, like we planned. And they would expect us to do the same thing. Trust me.” 

Rin opens her mouth to fight back, but decides against it, nodding her head and sighing. Jae just hugs her, rocking her back and forth. She doesn’t have the heart to tell them that the two men most likely aren’t going to the river, because they aren’t alive. She thinks she doesn’t tell them so she doesn’t have to see them cry, but she knows better than that. She doesn’t tell them because she can’t accept the truth herself. She doesn’t tell them, so she doesn’t have to accept the fact that she lost someone other than Mai. 

So, they wait. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on my new twitter to receive updates on this fic, along with ideas for other fics I might write!  
> https://twitter.com/SerendipitousVM


	10. Moving On

June 22nd, 2017 

 

“Listen to me, ‘cause I’m only going to say this once. We are going on the trip now,” Jae says, kneeling in front of Sanha and Rin. 

“But-”  

“No buts. What I decide is final, and I’ve decided that we are leaving now.” Jae interrupts Rin before she can argue her decision. It wasn’t easy for Jae to decide this, not when Jungkook and Taehyung are possibly still alive out there. They waited for them for four days, hoping to get some kind of sign that they are still alive, but all they got was a whole lot of nothing. She needed to think about her brother and Rin. She needed to think about what was best for them. And that was going to the river, just as they planned. 

“We are going on the trip now, and it’s gonna be rough. It’s gonna feel like it’s going on for a long time, so it’s gonna be hard to stay alert. It’s gonna be even harder to be quiet, but you have to do both. You have to do every single thing I say or we will not make it. Understand? Under no circumstance are you allowed to take off your blindfold. If I find that you have, there will be consequences. Do you understand? It’s cold, but we have blankets. Sanha, you will strap the birds to your chest like before, and you will take care of them. If we lose the birds, we lose any warning of that monster being around. Do you understand? And no talking on the river. You must listen as closely as you can. If you hear something in the woods, you tell me. If you hear something in the water, you tell me. But you never, ever, take off your blindfold. If you look, you will die. Do you understand?” Jae breathes heavily as she looks at the kids, eyes wide. Sanha and Rin briefly look at each other before turning back to Jae, nodding their heads. They still weren’t used to this, the new Jae. But she has been this way, ever since Jungkook and Tae disappeared and Mai died. They don’t blame Jae for her behavior. How could they, when they have no idea what she had to witness with her own eyes. They’re just sad, knowing she probably won’t be the Jae she was before, ever again. In a way, Sanha sees it as having lost not just one of his sisters, but both. Even though he thinks it’s doubtful to happen, the only thing he can hope for is that someday, his sister slowly becomes herself again. But until that happens, he will put it upon himself to care for her when she needs him. Like she did for Taehyung when he thought he would never see Jimin again. It’s time for someone to look after Jae, no matter how fine she says she is. 

Sanha and Rin finish packing their bags, bringing only the necessary food and blankets for warmth, while Jae walks around the shack, making sure they do not forget anything they might need. She walks through each room, making her way through the shack until she ends up at the doorway to the kitchen. She takes a deep breath, closing her eyes and calming her racing heart before she steps into the room. 

She looks around, seeing the dead bodies of the people that tried to kill her, and successfully killed Mai. She glares at them, a scowl fixated on her face as she kicks their bodies while she walks by them. She skims over the cabinets with her eyes as her hand glides over the countertops, checking every nook and cranny to make sure they aren’t forgetting anything. She stops once she reaches the small table in the kitchen, seeing the walkie-talkie Jungkook found standing upright on the table.  

She lets out a sigh, reaching over and picking up the walkie-talkie. It doesn’t seem right, taking it when Jungkook was the one to find it in the first place. But she knows this is the only way they have of contacting Namjoon. This could be the difference between life and death when they leave. So, she puts it in her bag, ready to use should they need it. 

Before she leaves the kitchen, she walks toward Mai’s body, kneeling down next to it. She smiles sadly, reaching over to touch her hair, tucking it behind her ear. 

“I’m so sorry, but we have to go,” Jae whispers, moving her hand to hold Mai’s. She recoils a little, feeling how cold it is to the touch, but quickly moves on and holds it even tighter. 

“I promise that I will get Sanha and Rin safely to the school. I will do whatever it takes to get them there. I won’t let your death be in vain. And someday, when this is all over, I will come back here for you. I will give you a proper burial, and let Sanha say a proper goodbye to you. Until then, please...wait for us here.” Jae clears her throat, tilting her head back to stop any tears from leaving her eyes. She leans forward and kisses Mai’s forehead before standing up, leaving the kitchen to join Sanha and Rin in the other room. 

“We’re ready to go,” Rin says timidly, hands tightly gripping her blindfold. Jae nods, slipping her backpack over her back. 

“Blindfolds on. Let’s go.” 

They all step outside, walking side by side with Jae walking in the middle, holding Rin’s hand in her left and Sanha’s in her right. And though their bodies are leaving, their hearts will forever remain in this place, staying with the three people that they have lost. 

 

* * *

 

3 hours later and they are still walking through the forest, panting hard as they walk at a quicker pace than they were when their group first started their journey. There is no time to waste now. They need to get to the river as fast as they can, considering they are much more vulnerable now than they ever were before. One of them occasionally trips, or has to stop to catch their breath, but the breaks don’t last long. They can’t afford to lose the daylight and find another shelter to rest for the night. They have to find the river today. 

Every once in a while, they hear leaves rustling around them, as if something or someone was following them. Whispered voices saying their names over and over again. Jae knows whatever is near them isn’t human, as the birds always seem to become louder whenever this happens. She forces herself to ignore it, instead counting her steps out loud to provide some sort of distraction for herself and the kids. 

It’s about another 2 hours later when Sanha suddenly stops walking, forcing Jae and Rin to stop as well. 

“Sanha, what’s wrong? Are you ok?” Jae asks him. 

“Jae...listen,” Sanha whispers, tilting his head to look slightly to the right. 

Jae calms her breathing down, trying her best to be as quiet as possible. At first, she doesn’t hear anything out of the ordinary, just the wind blowing through the surrounding trees. But after a minute, she hears it. It’s barely audible, and she’s quite impressed that Sanha could hear it through the sound of her counting and their walking, but it’s there. 

The sound of moving water. 

Jae’s head quickly turns to the right, picking up more and more sounds that clearly indicate a river nearby. For the first time in days she genuinely smiles, letting out a small laugh as she squeezes Sanha’s hand. 

“Good job Sanha. C’mon, this way.” 

Their brisk walk turns into more of a jog, adrenaline seeming to give them more energy than they actually have. It isn’t until about 10 minutes later that the sound becomes much louder, almost sounding as if they are surrounded by a river. 

“We’ve made it,” Rin says with a melancholy tone to her voice.  

Jae forces them to slow down, walking carefully forward as to not trip or fall into the water. She finds steps in front of her, and she can only assume that they lead to some sort of dock or clearing beside the river. 

Step by step the three slowly go down until they’ve reached the bottom of the stairs, and Jae bends down to feel the ground below them. Her hands find sand and small pebbles, with a few blades of grass every now and then. 

“Sanha, Rin, stay where you are. Ok?” Jae asks as she slowly starts walking around, her arms reaching out in front of her. She walks another 15 feet when her legs walk into something, causing a loud noise and a grunt to fall from her lips. 

“Jae, are you ok?” Sanha asks, taking a couple of steps forward. 

“I’m fine! Stay where you are!” Jae replies, leaning forward to try to find out what she ran in to. It’s hard and bulky, with it curving out to become bigger towards the bottom. She keeps feeling around it, trying to place what it is. It’s fairly long, with it ending in a slight point at one end. Her heart skips a beat when she thinks she knows what it is. She frantically pushes it over, flipping it so it is turned the other way, and she finds the inside hollow except for two planks that sit atop in the middle. 

A row boat, they have found a row boat. And not only that, but as she feels around inside the boat, she finds one single paddle. 

“No way...” Jae exhales, falling to her knees in sheer relief. Tears threaten to leave her eyes as she laughs, partly from joy, but mostly from exhaustion. 

“Sanha, Rin, come about 15 steps forward. There’s a boat over here, and I’ll need your help pushing it.” 

With the help of the kids, Jae is able to push the boat slightly into the water, letting Sanha and Rin get settled inside before she jumps in, right as the boat is completely in the water. It starts to turn forward, slowly matching pace with the current of the water. It’s not fast, not at all, but at least they can rest their feet and catch their breath for this leg of their journey. 

As the boat slowly moves forward, Jae takes out one of the larger blankets, turning around to face where the two kids are seated behind her. 

“Ok, you can take off your blindfolds as long as this blanket is over you, but the minute I say to put them back on, you do it. Understood?” 

Sanha and Rin nod as Jae covers them, taking off their blindfolds once Jae says they are in the clear. Sanha unstraps the box from his chest, lifting the top slightly open to check on the three birds inside. The let out a few chirps at the sight of the boy, who smiles in return. Rin peeks over into the box, petting the head of one of the birds inside. 

Outside of the blanket, Jae sighs, rolling her shoulders around before she picks up the paddle, trying to get a feel for rowing the boat without being able to see. She hits the occasional rock, but otherwise she picks it up fairly quickly, and their speed picks up ever so slightly. 

She hears the birds chirp from inside the blanket and she smiles, stopping paddling and letting the sound fill her ears for the moment. She breathes in the fresh air, the smell of the river flooding her senses before she continues paddling. 

“Ok Jae, only 36 hours to go.” 

 

* * *

 

6 hours later and night has fallen, a dense fog skimming above the river. Jae pants heavily, exhausted from paddling basically non-stop since they first got in the boat. She feels her head droop slightly, sleep threatening to take over her body. She shakes her head, stopping paddling just briefly enough to lightly slap her face, willing the exhaustion to hold off a bit longer. She puts her hands back on the paddle, getting ready to continue when a voice coming from her left makes her freeze. 

“Hello! You guys need some help?” 

Sanha and Rin lift their heads up, eyes covered as they put their blindfolds back on a couple of hours ago. Jae turns her head to the direction where the voice came from. 

“Shit...” Jae mumbles, hands gripping the paddle slightly tighter. 

“It’s okay to take your blindfolds off!” The man yells. 

“Do not take your blindfolds off. Do not!” Jae immediately says to the kids, quiet enough for the man not to hear, but loud enough for Sanha and Rin to sense the urgency in her tone. 

Jae starts paddling faster, hoping the boat isn’t close enough to where the man is at shore. 

“I got some food. Those kids look hungry,” the man comments, making Sanha put his arm around Rin protectively. 

“Get down. Get down. Get down. Down. Down. Down,” Jae whispers, pushing the kids to sit below the seat they were just sitting on. Jae feels for the blanket, using it to cover their heads. Jae reaches over the right side of the boat, sticking her hand into the water. She inwardly curses when she feels sand not a foot below the surface of the water. They must’ve veered toward shore when she wasn’t paddling, too busy making sure the kids weren’t longer visible. 

It’s too late to paddle away, because the boat is only getting closer to him and he didn’t sound that far to begin with. Jae stealthily reaches into her bag, trying to find the machete that is inside. 

“Heyyyy, little buddies. Have ya ever seen a baby deer? I’ll tell ya a secret. I found one in the woods,” the man drawls, a slight slur dragging his words together. 

Jae huffs in frustration, spinning her head around to try to figure out exactly where he is. She finally locates the machete, holding it out in front of her. 

“Ok, I know you’re scared! But listen, there’s no need. I’m not here to hurt you, I can pull you to shore,” the man says sweetly, sounding much closer than he was before. 

Jae lifts the machete higher, getting herself ready to swing at any moment's notice. Her head turns to every direction, trying to listen for any sign of where the man could be. 

“Take your goddamn blindfold off!” the man yells, pulling Jae’s arm that is holding the machete down. He tries to take it out of her hands, pulling with one hand while holding her other arm down. 

He manages to bite her arm, making her drop the machete into the boat and scream. She tries to fight back, using the paddle to hit him in the ribs. He just pushes her back, making her fall into the boat. She turns her head to see Sanha and Rin exposed, the blanket having come off of them during the fight. They lay side by side, holding onto each other for dear life. She will not let them get hurt, not now. 

“Get away!” Jae yells, swinging her leg in the air and managing to kick him in the face. 

The man grunts but doesn’t relent, his energy seeming to replenish instantly. “I’ve seen one. I’ve seen the truth. Take your blindfold off!” 

The man starts laughing hysterically, just like the one who killed Mai. He reaches into the boat, choking Jae and grabbing her blindfold. All Jae can hear is the birds, their chirping having increased tenfold. She screams, turning her head side to side so he can’t get a good grip. 

“It’s beautiful. It’s beautiful. Take your blindfold off. Take your blindfold off!” The man yells, gripping Jae’s neck even tighter. 

Jae reaches around her wildly, trying to find anything that could save her. Her mind starts to fog, the lack of oxygen starting to take effect. Before she completely blacks out, she feels the familiar handle of the machete that fell from her hands earlier. She gets a good grip and immediately swings upward, slicing one of his arms. 

He screams in pain, using his other hand to cover the open wound. While he’s distracted, Jae swings more, and after a few misses, manages to slice him on the side of his neck.  

“It shall cleanse the world...everyone must look...everyone must...” She hears his voice fade, water splashing as his body falls into the shallow water around him. She keeps swinging, slicing his body several more times until she knows he can’t be alive anymore. 

Her body collapses into the boat, leaning onto the side as she catches her breath. When her head finally feels like it isn’t foggy, she does the only thing she can think of doing at the moment. 

She screams. 

“Why are all of you fucking crazy people trying to kill us?!? Leave us alone for fucks sake! Just for one fucking minute!!!” Jae screams, pulling her hair tightly in frustration. 

“What did we ever do to you???” Jae yells into the air, only getting silence in return. 

Her screams slowly become sobs, her body finally giving in to the exhaustion she felt earlier. She brings her knees to her chest, letting out every single emotion she’s kept bottled up the past few days. She cries, and cries, and cries some more. She cries even as she feels the boat being pushed away from shore, shaking slightly as someone moves around. 

“J-Jae...?” Sanha asks hesitantly, him being a lot closer to her than he was before. 

Jae looks up, feeling her brother reach over and put his hand on her shoulder. 

“We’re back in the water. I pushed us back. And I’m going to paddle for a bit so you can rest.” 

Jae doesn’t move at first, her mind taking a second to comprehend everything he just told her. It finally catches up, and she realizes just how oblivious to the outside world she had been the past few minutes. Her heart wants to argue with him, to tell him that he should let her continue on. That she was fine. But her brain knew that that was a lie, and at the mention of the word rest, her head starts to fog up again. 

“Ok... Thank you Sanha...” Jae slowly switches places with her brother, sitting down next to Rin at the bottom of the boat. Rin reaches over to her, lifting Jae’s arm to wrap around her as she cuddles into her chest. Jae sighs as she holds the girl tightly to her, Rin’s whispered ‘good night’ the last thing she hears before sleep takes over. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on my new twitter to receive updates on this fic, along with ideas for other fics I might write!  
> https://twitter.com/SerendipitousVM


End file.
